







/ 

F'R5>T CO? 

1849 








» M O fi -*MA.w ' j . 


'-'-V 

F 8jn£'f> 

1 

If J 

ffig'M 

if- E r/l&fift 

j f«gs 


Sv ^ 

&. ' •4*5* 

(■a/ 'Jsl 


IN i 

‘jStSs i ,.,A% 


if '1 


I cl 

wi: 4 

WxsS -▼ 

|JK $>; 

* X.4, ”■..!' •■■ 

B - 


iiiiiitiiniiumiifjMiniiiniiiNiiniMiiniuuinHiuiHuiiniHinii 










r : . 











a 

■ 
























































THE 


DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 



THE 


DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


BY ROBERT CAMERON. 


FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY, 
New York, Chicago, Toronto. 


Publishers of Evangelical Literature . 









Copyright, 1896, Fleming H. Revell Company. 
Copyright, 1899, Robert Cameron. 


TWO COPiEo ftEp£!V£Q. 



By Transfer 

0. C. Public Library 

DEC 2 2 1938 



o c> 







INTRODUCTION. 


HI 

a 


si 

H 

d 


The substance of this book, in all of its essen- 
tial features, was carefully read by the late 
Dr. A. J. Gordon, in manuscript. He urged 
its immediate publication, and consented to 
write an introduction to its pages. Before the 
closing chapters were completed he had passed 
away from his useful life. On this account 
his name has no connection with the book, 
further than this grateful acknowledgment of 
his encouraging words. 

The learned Dr. Harnack, in his “ History 
of Dogma,” when speaking of the Christian’s 
“ faith in God as the father of Jesus Christ,” 
makes the following comprehensive statement: 
“ So far as this God is believed to be the 
omnipotent Lord of heaven and earth, the 
Christian religion includes a knowledge of God, 
of the world, and of the purpose of created 
things.” These three spheres, then, are the 
proper objects of our contemplation. 

Hitherto the Church has studied the character 


4 


INTRODUCTION 


of God, and no small amount of knowledge of 
the world has been obtained. But “ the pur- 
pose of created things” — the great end for 
which all things were made, and toward which 
they move, together with the advancing steps 
of the past, as recorded in history , and of the 
future, as revealed in prophecy — have been 
sadly neglected. An attempt is made by the 
author to revive an interest in the study of 
this most profound and inspiring theme. Dur- 
ing the early days of the Church patristic liter- 
ature abounds in allusions to the Ages, to their 
characteristics, and to their promising out- 
come. Then the doctrine drops out of sight, 
like some of the “ dry streams ” flowing 
under the sand on our western prairies. Re- 
cently it has been coming to the surface again 
to gladden the garden of God. The light 
which comes out of the truth gathering around 
this doctrine will be needed in the last 
days of perilous times, just as much as in the 
former days of patient endurance and triumph- 
ant martyrdom. 

The quotations from scripture in this volume 
are for the most part taken from the Revised 
or Canterbury version. In a few cases the 
author has translated literally from the Greek 


INTRODUCTION 


5 


text, and all students will recognize that the 
renderings are simply for the purpose of mak- 
ing the meaning more apparent. The reader 
is not troubled by foot notes, directing atten- 
tion to quotations from various authors. 

With the fervent prayer that our gracious 
Lord may be pleased to use what has been 
written to awaken the saints to study these 
intensely practical truths, and to stimulate the 
Church to hasten the coming of the Lord who 
will introduce the good things of the Age 
to come, this book is now sent forth in His 
Name. 

Watchword Office, Boston , Mass., January i, 1896. 



CONTENTS 


Paqb. 



Introduction . t 

• 

3 

I. 

Meaning and History of the Word Aeon 

9 

2. 

The Ages Revealed 


20 

3 - 

The Arrangement of the Ages . 

• 

27 

4 - 

The Age-Times 

• 

40 

5 - 

Determining the Ages 

• 

50 

6. 

The Distinctness of the Ages 

t 

57 

7 * 

The Characteristics of the Ages 

• 

65 

8. 

The Relation of the Ages 

• 

73 

9 - 

The End of the Age 

• 

81 

IO. 

This Age and the Next 

• 

9 i 

ii. 

Judgment or Progress — Which?. 

• 

102 

12. 

The Doctrine in History . 

• 

no 

13 - 

The Ages and the Bible . 

• 

120 

14. 

Better or Worse . 

• 

130 

15 - 

To What End? 

• 

143 

16. 

The Uses of this Doctrine 

• 

151 

i 7 - 

The Conclusion 

• 

159 




I. 


THE MEANING AND HISTORY OF THE WORD 
AEON. 

When God made a beginning with the ma- 
terial universe, He had a definite purpose be- 
fore His mind. In infinite wisdom He fixed 
the end and determined the steps by which it 
was to be reached. Just as all of the parts of 
a vessel are adjusted to its keel, so all events 
and all Ages are adjusted to that End. 
Whether written or unwritten, every nation 
has its constitution, and every statute law is 
enacted and interpreted subject to its provis- 
ions. In like manner the fundamental nature 
of God and the ultimate end of all things ex- 
pressing that nature are the unalterable con- 
stitution of the universe, and each unfolding 
Age is made to move in harmony with its es- 
sence. The various steps of the unfolding 
wisdom, love and power of God, in His on- 
ward march toward the final consummation, 
are called Aeons in the New Testament. It 


9 


10 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


is of the first importance that we should learn 
the history and meaning of this term before 
proceeding to discuss the doctrine which it is 
made to reveal. 

The word Aeon , like the word Kosmos, has 
an interesting history. Kosmos originally 
meant ornament. It is used in this sense once 
in the New Testament by Peter, when speak- 
ing to the women about their dress. He urged 
that their adornment ( kosmos ), by plaiting 
their hair, or by wearing jewels of gold, or by 
the arrangements of gowns, ought not to be the 
principal beauty of Christian women, but it 
ought to be “ that of a meek and quiet spirit 
which is incorruptible.” From the meaning 
of ornament this word passed readily to that of 
order, on the principle that beauty is not a 
thing inherent in substance, but is the result of 
the relation or arrangement of things associ- 
ated together. Pythagoras is believed to have 
been the first to transfer Kosmos to the sum 
total of the material universe. He thus 
expressed his sense of the beauty and order 
everywhere to be traced in the material world. 

The Latin word Mundus followed in the 
same path, giving Augustine an opportunity to 
play on the word by his frequent utterance, 


HISTOR Y OF THE WORD AEON 


11 


“0 munde ) immunde /” — O beautiful world, 
destitute of beauty ! 

After a while, both Kosmos and Mundus 
came to mean, not only the material universe 
but the sum total of the men living in the 
world. In the New Testament, however, Kos- 
mos is often limited to mean that part of man- 
kind organized in unbelief, and alienated from 
the life of God. In other words, it means the 
whole of mankind outside of the Church of 
God. 

A similar development and change may be 
traced in the meaning of the word Aeon. The 
primary meaning of this word in its absolute 
sense as given by Aristotle is, always existing. 
He derives it from the adverb (aeT) always, 
and the participle ( oori ) being, or existing. 
Our word “ rolling ages ” is an approximation 
to this idea. “ He hath put eternity (that is 
the Hebrew olam or the Greek aeon ) in their 
heart, yet so that man cannot find out the work 
that God hath done from the beginning even 
to the end.” Eccl. 3: 1 1. God has put the 
idea of eternity into the heart of man — that 
is, the thought of duration without beginning 
and without end. The incomprehensible is in 
the heart of man, and this makes his life sol- 


12 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


emn. Try as we will, stretch our imagination 
as far as we please, still we can not think of a 
beginning or of an end of time. The moment 
we fix it, we at once overleap it. Here lies 
the Hebrew olam , and the Greek aeon , in the 
primitive sense. 

But, in struggling with the vast conception of 
forever, or always* existing, it was manifestly 
too great for the minds of either Greeks or 
Hebrews. The Olam of the Hebrew is nearly 
equivalent to the Aeon of the Greek. In both 
nations the conception was broken up into 
relative periods or successions of Aeons , con- 
tinuously emerging in a beginningless series, 
from the past to the endless future. This 
came to be the ordinary meaning of the word 
Aeon in the New Testament, and in quotations 
from the Old it is made the equivalent of the 
Hebrew Olam. Both terms designate time- 
worlds as distinguished from space-worlds. A 
time-world stands for a bounded and limited 
time, in the midst of eternity, while a space- 
world stands for a globe of matter, in the 
immensity of space. 

But in time there grew up another concep- 
tion that gathered around this word. It was 
prevalent in the Apostolic days, although it 


HISTORY OF 7 HE WORD AEON 


13 


does not appear in literature until the close of 
that period. 

Amongst the Greeks, there was a tendency 
to account for the world by natural evolution. 
They believed that in some way it came forth 
from God. But it is doubtful if they ever 
reached the idea of God, as existing wholly 
distinct from his works. They did not regard 
God as the Creator of the matter of the 
worlds, but only as the Supreme Organizer or 
Producer of the Kosmos from Chaos. To 
them, matter seems to have had an eternal 
existence. 

All the metaphors which they employed to 
express this thought, assumed that there were 
vast grades and distances between God and 
the sensible world. The expression used by 
one group of philosophers was that of “ Aeon" 
meaning thereby an emanation from God. 
These Aeons seem to have been somewhat 
similar to the Demiurge. (It is so used by 
Clement R. i. c. 35.61.) The Demiurge, as 
they taught, fashioned the material world out 
of the shapeless mass that came forth from the 
divine wisdom. According to their theory, 
“ forms ” came forth from the Supreme God, 
by which He made the world, and by which 


14 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


He revealed Himself to the world. These 
forms vary in different schools, and sometimes 
in the same school. They were Aeons, and 
by some they were considered as modes of 
God’s existence, while others looked upon 
these Aeons as personal beings, who came 
forth from God, and who remained outside of 
God, as separate beings. They were far above 
men, and yet vastly removed from God. 
Some schools went so far as to furnish the 
genealogy of the Aeons, while others regarded 
them as the production of Deity in a single 
and momentary act. 

These ancient speculators regarded God as 
too great and lofty to be occupied with such a 
little thing as this world. They, therefore, 
introduced these emanations from God — these 
Aeons — as beings who formed it and ruled it. 
Perhaps it would be better to say that, accord- 
ing to their conceptions, God formed and 
ruled the world by means of these Aeons. In 
some schools of philosophy they taught that 
there was a Logos. But this Logos, or Word, 
was made up of distinct utterances, or outer- 
ances, of God, and each utterance was an 
Aeon. In other words, each Aeon was a part 
of the Logos, and a phase of God’s nature, 


HISTORY OF THE WORD AEON 


15 


expressing or reflecting itself in a part or phase 
of the world. Thus, the sum total of the 
Aeons would be equivalent to the Logos. It 
will thus be seen that a subsidiary meaning of 
Aeon was a Demiurge, or semi-divine being, 
forming the world and ruling over it for a cer- 
tain period of time. 

The word Aeon, therefore, had three distinct 
and separate meanings, although they grew 
out of the same soil. Its primary significance 
was, always existing, or forever. The magni- 
tude of this conception led to its breaking up 
into periods. In Apostolic days this was its 
prevalent meaning. It covered the thought of 
time in unbroken duration, whether long or 
short. It stood for a period or an age, having 
a beginning and an end — a time-world, marked 
off from the eternity that has neither begin- 
ning nor end. But prior to the Apostolic age, 
the seeds of the Gnostic system of philosophy 
had taken root, and it continued to grow for 
two or three centuries thereafter. They used 
the word to designate some emanation from 
the Supreme God, moulding the universe, and 
autocratically presiding over its destinies dur> 
ing one of these well-defined ages or periods 
of time. They first thought of an unbeginning 


16 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


and endless succession; then of periods in this 
beginningless and endless succession; and 
then of some inferior divinity ruling over one 
of these periods. Aeon passed out from 
meaning eternity to a broken part of it, and 
from that to the Being who presided over one 
of these fragments of eternity. The reign of 
the Aeon over the universe during a period of 
time grew to be the prominent thought in the 
mind of the philosopher. 

It is not altogether surprising to find that 
the word Aeon is used in this philosophic sense 
by Paul in the second chapter of Ephesians: 
“ And you did He quicken when ye were dead 
through your trespasses and sins, wherein afore- 
time ye walked according to the course of this 
world ” ( kata ton aiona tou kosmou tout on). 
They were walking according to the Aeon of 
this world, which Paul says is “ the spirit now 
energizing in the sons of disobedience.” In 
other words, Paul’s thought is, that Satan is 
now the Aeon or the ruler of this world. 
Satan is the spirit — the unseen essence — the 
Zeit-geist of this world as now organized, 
moulding its. purposes and determining its 
character. He will continue to do this until 
cast into the Abyss. The translators seem to 


HISTORY OF THE WORD AEON 


17 


be utterly at sea here, as in other places, in 
their rendering of the word Aeon. 

It is not admitted here that Paul sanctioned 
this Gnostic conception. Finding it in the 
Ephesian mind as he found other Gnostic the- 
ories, he took advantage of it to unfold a great 
truth concerning the grim fact of Satan’s 
supremacy over men’s minds. There was no 
Aeon corresponding to the notions of the 
heathen philosophers, but there was a terrible 
fact, everywhere acknowledged in the New 
Testament, and most of all by our Lord, that 
the Devil controls still the kingdoms of this 
world. Under cover of a heathen conception 
Paul states a Christian truth. Indeed, every 
use of a Greek word with a history, is sub- 
stantially doing the same thing. 

Very naturally the word Aeon came to have 
a modified meaning, designating the character 
or moral element in the current of the world’s 
affairs during a given length of time. It 
passed out into a broader field, meaning not 
merely the period of time nor yet its Demiurge, 
but the characteristic features of any definite 
period. Our own words, age or times, are 
similarly modified. We speak of the genius of 
the age and spirit of the times. By this we 


18 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


mean all of that floating mass of thought, feel- 
ing and opinion — all of that impulse, aim and 
maxim, current in the world, from which it 
proceeds and by which it is moulded. It is 
the intellectual and moral atmosphere which 
we inhale and of course exhale. It is that 
spirit which influences us, and which, when 
we are influenced, leads us to impart the same 
directing power to the age in which we live. 

But it is to be remembered that the ordinary 
meaning of Aeon in the New Testament is age 
or period of time. It has a relation to eternity, 
similar to that which Kosmos has to space. 
The one marks off a well defined spot in the 
universe of space, and the other marks off a 
well defined period in the eternity of duration. 
The word Aeon in the Word of God, with the 
one exception already noted, has the uniform 
meaning of a period of time, having a well 
defined beginning, and marked by certain 
moral and providential characteristics which 
distinguish it from all other periods of time or 
dispensations, which may have gone before or 
which may follow after. 

In the Scriptures it will be found that there 
are a number of these Aeons or Ages — what 
we often call dispensations — plainly revealed. 


HISTORY OF THE WORD AEON 


19 


The pages of this book are devoted to a con- 
sideration of these Ages, and to the practical 
bearing of their characteristics and purposes 
upon the hopes, the conduct and the work of 
human life. 


II. 


THE AGES REVEALED. 

We speak freely of the Jewish dispensation 
and the Christian dispensation. This is nat- 
ural, as we are living in the one, and are sup- 
posed to have just emerged from the other. 
Our emerging, however, resembles that of the 
chicken that carries a portion of the shell in 
which it was hatched. We are in the Chris- 
tian age, to be sure, but we have not grown 
enough to have entirely broken loose from the 
bondage of the Jewish.. We have not gone 
far enough with Christ, to have lost all sight 
of Moses. We do not realize that Moses is 
dead, but Jesus is alive forevermore. It 
takes time to learn that we “ are made dead 
to the law through the body of Christ that we 
might be for another — the One raised from the 
dead.” 

But how seldom we think or speak of any 
other Age except the one in which we live and 
the one which has just passed away. Other 

so 


THE AGES REVEALED 


21 


Ages than that to which the Law of Moses 
gave certain characteristics, have come and 
gone and accomplished the ends for which 
they were introduced, and other Ages will 
continue to come and go, after this Age of the 
Church — this Christian dispensation — shall 
have passed away. 

This may be seen by examining a few 
Scriptures. Take the Epistle to the Hebrews 
first chapter, “ God having of olden time 
spoken unto the fathers in the prophets by 
many portions and in many ways, hath, at the 
end of these days, spoken unto us in a Son, 
whom He appointed heir of all things, through 
whom also He made the worlds. ” In the 
original it reads ( epoiesen tons aionas ) ‘ ‘ made 
the ages,” “who is the effulgence of His 
glory and the very counterpart of His sub- 
stance, and upholding all things by the word 
of His power, when He had made purification 
of sins sat down.” Now take the word 
“ world ” in its natural, simple significance, 
and see what a wonderful Scripture there is 
here. First we see the end of all history. 
Christ is the “ heir of all things,” and He will 
yet possess all things. That is the goal to 
which human history is tending, and the period 


22 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


at which it will stop — “ the one far-off divine 
event to which the whole creation moves.” 
The word cleronomos here means legal 
heir — the lawful possessor. He has acquired 
the right by purchase as well as by appoint- 
ment. And then we have secondly the be- 
ginning of all history. God made or planned 
the Ages in Jesus Christ, and Ages began in 
Him, as they will terminate by placing every- 
thing in the universe in His possession. Then 
we have thirdly, a deeper thought. The One 
who existed before all history. He was the 
outshining of the glory and the imprinted 
counterpart of the fundamental nature of 
God, before all time. This is “ the beginning ” 
when the Word was with God and was God. 
And lastly, we have the One who exists in the 
midst of all history — “ upholding all things by 
the word of His power ” — by the utterance or 
outerance of his power. 

We have thus presented the One who was 
the outshining and exact counterpart of God, 
before ever an Age began its course; the One 
in whom all the Ages were planned and made; 
the One who is in the midst of all the Ages, 
sustaining and guiding their course; and the 
One in whose hands all things will be placed 


THE AGES REVEALED 


23 


when these Ages shall have reached their goal. 
To interject “ worlds ” and leave out “ ages ” 
mars and confuses the whole conception of the 
Holy Spirit in this wonderful Scripture. 

In the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, where 
the triumphs of faith are celebrated, an exam- 
ination of the use of this word will lead to the 
same conclusion. “ By faith we understand 
that the worlds have been formed by the word 
of God.” Here, in the Greek, the word trans- 
lated “worlds” is Aeons. Many commenta- 
tors say that the writer of the Epistle means 
to designate the whole of the material universe 
existing throughout the ages. But the verb 
used here ( katertisthai ) means to mend by 
putting together the broken threads of a rent 
— to repair, and thus to put in order, to adjust. 
It can not very well mean create, and it would 
scarcely seem fitting to say that God arranged, 
adjusted or put in order the material universe, 
unless we are prepared to believe in the eter- 
nity of matter. He created the universe while 
He organized the Ages. But this verb does 
most aptly express the thought that the Ages 
were fitted to each other by the utterance of 
God, just as all things were originally created 
by Him. The web of the moral world had 


24 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


been broken by the incursion of sin, and it 
was knit into a succession of Ages in Christ 
Jesus our Lord. All things are held together 
now in Him; and in the end, all things in 
heaven and on earth will God bring together 
into one combined state of unity and fellow- 
ship in Him. Literally, all things on earth 
and in heaven, hitherto disunited by sin, “ will 
be brought into a head ” — “ will be headed up” 
— and united in Him. This is that mystery of 
the will of God, made known to us, which He 
arranged according to His good pleasure in 
Christ, reaching out towards and culminating 
in the fullness of times. Eph. i: io. 

It will be seen, then, that the whole of the 
Ages, as well as the whole of the universe, are 
not merely an emanation from, but indeed a 
creation by, and a manifestation of, God. 
Just as no single history of a man or a 
dynasty can be properly understood without 
a knowledge of what precedes and what fol- 
lows, so no Age or dispensation can be fully 
fathomed without a consideration of the pre- 
ceding and succeeding Ages. Creation came 
forth at the Word of God, cosmically framed 
in architectural symmetry and aesthetic pro- 
portions. The Aeons or Ages have been ar- 


THE /tGES REVEALED 


25 


ranged also, according to the divine ideal of 
plan and proportion. The whole sweep of the 
Ages and their relation and interdependence, 
need to be studied, in order to a true concep- 
tion of the purpose, plan and infinite goodness 
of God. 

Jesus is the first-born of all creation; “ for 
in Him were all things created and through 
Him and for Him.” Col. i: 15, 16. He is 
the divine ideal; and just as the whole land- 
scape may be seen in a globe crystal, so all 
things were ideally, antitypically, originally 
and eternally created in Him. The divine and 
eternal realism is the highest idealism, and it 
underlies all things visible. He also upholds 
the universe, for “ in Him all things hold to- 
gether. ” It is a wonderful truth that in the 
Son of God all creative, cosmic and dispensa- 
tional fullness, as well as all spiritual and di- 
vine fullness dwells. 

In the construction of a building as well as 
in the development of a man, there are fixed 
measurements that determine the relation of 
each part to every other. In the same way 
God has made the Ages in Christ Jesus, story 
upon story, columns on bases, and capitals on 
columns, until all center in Him who is the 


26 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


Origin as well as Crown and King of the Ages. 
The parts of a building reach completion in 
capstone or dome, in pinnacle or spire. The 
concurrent lines of the Creative ages, the Cos- 
mic ages and the Redemptive ages all termi- 
nate and have their convergence and comple- 
tion in Him who was before all things, through 
all things and heir of all things, and who is the 
Father and Fashioner of the ages. And are 
we not, by infinite grace, “ joint-heirs with 
Him” in this divine destiny? Incredible 
though it seems, yet it is even so. If the 
Cherubim veil their faces and adore before the 
vision of glory, surely we too can join in their 
wonder, love and praise, in the presence of 
this revelation concerning the Ages, leading up 
to a glory eclipsing everything made known in 
all of the past and a glory of which we shall 
form a noble part. 


III. 


THE ARRANGEMENT OF THE AGES. 

In Eph. iii: n, Paul declares that he was 
a minister to the Gentiles to bring to light 
the stewardship or dispensation of the mystery, 
which had been hid in God from all ages; so 
“ that now, unto principalities and powers 
in heavenly regions there might be made 
known through the Church, the manifold wis- 
dom of God.” Here we have mention of a 
mystery, hidden in God from all the Ages 
till Paul’s day. The mystery was that of the 
Church, concerning which there is not one 
utterance in the whole of the Old testa- 
ment that unfolds its formation or distinct 
character or destiny. He, therefore, was ap- 
pointed to bring to light the stewardship of 
this mystery, concerning which no information 
could be obtained from what was then known 
as the Sacred Scriptures. During this Church- 
age, bursting out like the unexpected flash of 
a brilliant star from an evening sky, there is 


27 


28 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


made known in some wonderful way, “ the 
manifold wisdom of God which He purposed 
in Christ Jesus our Lord.” So says our Re- 
vised version. But the words translated eter- 
nal purpose are {prothesin toon aioonoon) 
and mean “the arrangement of the ages.'* 
Alexander Campbell translates this passage 
after Chrysostom “ according to the predispo- 
sition of the ages,” McKnight, “ according to 
the disposition of the ages,” Anderson, “ ac- 
cording to the arrangement of the ages,” and 
Hammond “the foredisposing of the ages.” 
All this was in Christ, for apart from the Son 
the Father neither willed, nor arranged nor 
wrought. 

We receive important hints respecting the 
arrangement of the Ages from this word pro- 
thesis , which is used twelve times in the New 
Testament. Although generally translated 
“purpose,” a more literal rendering would 
give, in most instances, a clearer conception 
of the thought in the mind of the writer when 
it is used. Its etymological meaning is to set 
before, to place in view, to set forth, to ar- 
range in proper order. 

Prothesis then properly means a setting 
forth or arrangement of anything in hand. 


THE ARRANGEMENT OF THE AGES 29 


The prothesis of the Ages in Christ, in Eph. 
iii: ii, is that arrangement of the various Ages 
or dispensations which God has made in Christ 
Jesus our Lord, with due regard to the perfec- 
tions of His own character and the highest 
good of His creatures. Let us examine some 
instances of its use. 

Take Acts xxvii: 13. Here it is translated 
purpose, which shows a misconception of the 
thought of the writer that is very striking. 
When the captain of the ship which carried Paul 
on his way to Rome, saw there was a soft wind 
blowing, “ he supposed that he had obtained his 
purpose,” and put out to sea. So it is trans- 
lated in our Bible. But there is not one sin- 
gle hint about the captain’s purpose in the 
author’s mind. What was he narrating then ? 
Just this and nothing more: the captain sup- 
posed that such conditions had been brought 
to pass — such an arrangement of the elements 
had been brought about by the Fates, or per- 
haps in his mind, by the providence of God, 
as would make it safe and wise to weigh an- 
chor, hoist sail and put out to sea. There 
was a wind blowing, and this was a necessity. 
It was soft and from the south, and these were 
propitious omens. Now then, these were the 


30 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


conditions, the connected series of things 
which was obtained by the captain — the pro- 
thesis — that determined his action to his sub- 
sequent sorrow and to the disaster of the ship. 
It is not the captain’s purpose, but the condi- 
tions of the wind and weather, that the author 
of the Acts of the Apostles has in mind — a 
connected series of things that lead to a pur- 
pose to sail out on the high sea. 

In Rom. viii: 28, we have that comforting 
Scripture, “ all things work together for good 
to them who love God, to them who are called 
according to His purpose.” Would it not be 
better if it read, “ the called according to His 
arrangement?” Again in Rom. ix: 11, when 
the apostle, in speaking of Esau and Jacob 
before they were born, in order “ that the pur- 
pose of God according to election might 
stand,” the same word occurs. Would it not 
be better — would not the thought be clearer — 
if it read, “ in order that the arrangement of 
God according to election might stand ?” 
Evidently Paul meant to say that what God 
had previously arranged had actually been 
brought to pass. God not only had a purpose, 
but He also fixed a certain order of things, 
and this arrangement had been fulfilled. 


THE ARRANGEMENT OF THE A GES 31 


In Eph. i : 1 1 , we have these words, 
“ according to the purpose of Him who 
worketh all things after the counsel of His 
will.” Here prothesis is again translated by 
the word, purpose. But the thought of the 
original would be better expressed and repeti- 
tion avoided if rendered, “ according to the 
arrangement of Him who worketh all things 
after the counsel of His will.” God is the 
great Architect of all events in the path of His 
grace. He has drawn the plans. These 
plans correspond to His purpose and will. 
He then proceeds to fill up all things in the 
unfolding of the Ages, according to this plan. 
We have here first, the counsel of His will, 
then the prothesis or arrangement of the Ages 
according to this counsel, and after that, the 
working of all things according to this design. 
The proprietor first wills to build, then the 
architect draws the working plans, and after 
that the builder erects the structure according 
to the plans drawn. God is all three in one. 
He wills, draws the design, and then “ worketh 
all things after the counsel of His will.” 

The word occurs again in II Tim. i: 9, “ Who 
saved us * * * not according to our 

works, but according to His own purpose and 


32 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus 
before times eternal.” Translating this as 
we contend it ought to be rendered, it would be 
“ according to His own arrangement and grace 
which was given us in Christ Jesus before the 
times of the Ages.” God arranged our salva- 
tion before the times of the Ages began their 
vast and unfolding cycles, and then He brought 
it to pass in its season. In the same Epistle, 
Chap, iii: io, Paul says, “ thou didst follow 
my teaching, conduct, purpose.” To the 
writer it seems that the translators have failed 
to express the mind of the Apostle by this 
rendering. How much stronger and more sig- 
nificant to say “ thou didst follow my teaching, 
conduct and arrangement.” He commended 
Timothy, not only for following his teaching 
and conduct, but also for following the whole 
of that orderly arrangement of matters which 
Paul had established in that church. It was 
not his purpose, but his church order and 
discipline that were followed. 

This word is invariably used in the New 
Testament to express the orderly arrangement 
of the shewbread. The twelve loaves were 
set forth on the table corresponding to the 
number of the tribes of Israel. This bread 


THE ARRANGEMENT OF THE AGES 33 


was placed on the table in two rows of six 
loaves each. It was the bread of prothesis — 
the bread of setting forth, the bread of pres- 
ence, the bread of orderly arrangement. And 
this is the key to its use through the whole of 
the New Testament Scriptures. 

Let us recur now to that extraordinary pas- 
sage in the eleventh verse of the third chapter 
of Ephesians which has puzzled so many trans- 
lators and commentators. This Scripture 
would become perfectly simple and transpar- 
ent, if the words prothesis and Aeon were al- 
lowed to stand in their original and natural 
signification. It would thus mean, “ accord- 
ing to the orderly arrangement of the Ages 
which God made in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 
And this arrangement was made so as to re- 
veal the manifold wisdom of God. It is that 
wisdom which, in this Age, has multiplied it- 
self many times. It had a manifestation in 
every preceding Age, but in this present Age 
it has every possible unfolding in the Church. 
The light of God’s wisdom is one and undi- 
vided, but having gone through the prism of 
the cross, it is refracted and, in the Church, it 
is seen in all of the distinct colors of its inher- 
ent glory. The love, the wisdom and the pur- 


34 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


pose of God were unseen and unknown. Ac- 
cording to their perfection the Ages have been 
arranged, and in this church period, all of 
their wealth has been summed up and antici- 
pated. 

An attempt is here made to bring out in 
English, the rich and definite meaning of this 
verse in Ephesians as follows: To preach 
unto the Gentiles the untraceable riches of 
Christ, and to make appear to all men what is 
the ministration of the mystery which has been 
hid away from the Ages, in God, who created 
all things, in order that now might be made 
known to the principalities and authorities in 
heavenly regions, through means of the Church, 
the varied wisdom of God in its multiplied 
forms, according to the arrangement of the 
Ages made in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

The many ways and times in which Aeon is 
used, shows the importance of the great doc- 
trine which stands behind this term and also 
helps in determining the arrangement of the 
Ages. Our Lord distinguishes this Age from 
the Age to come, and the writer of the book 
of Hebrews speaks of certain persons who 
have “ tasted the powers of the Age to come,” 
— u powers of a future Age,” says Canon 


THE ARRANGEMENT OE THE AGES 35 


Westcott. And, as if to make it plain that 
this coming Age will be upon this earth, it is 
called the inhabited earth ( oikoumene ) to 
come. Heb. ii: 5. Again and again, our 
Lord as recorded in Matthew, speaks of the end 
or consummation of the Age, plainly leading 
us to expect another Age under different con- 
ditions, when “ the righteous shall shine forth 
in the kingdom of their Father.” We have 
the time before {pro) the Ages, the time from 
{apo) the beginning of the Ages and the time 
during {ek) the Ages. Luke i: 7; Actsxv: 18; 
Tit. i: 2; Col. i: 26; John ix: 32. 

There is a great variety in the use of the 
word Aeon. We have in the New Testament 
“ unto the age,” “ unto the ages,” “ unto the 
age of ages,” “ unto the ages of the ages,” and 
also “ unto all the generations of the age of 
the ages.” 

It may be impossible to define sharply the 
shades of meaning of these different expres- 
sions. Unto the age may mean throughout 
this entire present dispensation, until the en- 
tering in of the next. John xiv: 16. Unto the 
ages may mean, all the way through whatever 
ages may yet have an unfolding. Rom. ix: 5; 
Rev. i: 6. Unto the age of the ages or day of 


36 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


the ages may refer to that final outcome of re- 
demption, when the will of God is done on 
earth as in heaven, and there is no further re- 
demptive period to begin and to end. II Pet. 
iii: 1 8; Eph. i: 21. Unto the ages of the 
ages, may refer to the continuation of Creative 
Ages after the Redemptive Ages shall have rui 
their full course and reached their goal. Phil, 
iv: 20; Rev. xxii: 5. Unto all ages, may refer 
to all Ages whether Redemptive, Kosmic or 
Creative. Jude: 25. All the generations of 
the age of ages, suggests the hope of vast re- 
productions of the race, when some applica- 
tion of redemption, not now made known, has 
made the recurrence of sin an impossibility. 
These “ generations ” might be the process de- 
termined by “ the King of the Ages,” for fill- 
ing the universe, during the unending series of 
Creative Ages, that will resume, or rather con- 
tinue, their course after “ the Age of Ages ” 
shall have ushered in the fullness of the com- 
ing glory for the Church and for the world. 

To put it in another form, Creative Ages 
existed before this present Kosmic order was 
ushered into existence, and also before the 
various stages of the progressive development 
of redemption began. They will also still go 


THE ARRANGEMENT OF THE AGES 37 


on in an endless series, after the coming Kos- 
mic order, and after the great ends of redemp- 
tion are reached. There will be generations 
of beings during these unfathomable ages of 
what order, who can tell ? 

Paul speaks of the “ ends of the ages ” 
coming upon the Church of his day. His 
singular use of the term would seem to mean 
that all of the former dispensations met their 
goal and completion in the gospel Age. All 
the blessing of former Ages, and all the hopes 
connected with the Ages to come, were gath- 
ered up and anticipated in the Age that now 
is. All things written aforetime were written 
for our learning, and all promises made con- 
cerning the time yet to come, have their ful- 
fillment now to the faith, although not to the 
sight, of the born-again sons of God. It is 
also possible that the apostle had another 
thought in his mind when writing of the 
“ ends of the ages” coming upon the believ- 
ers of his day. That was the day of the cru- 
cifixion. It is certainly true that the blood of 
Christ is the foundation upon which all ages 
and dispensations rest. All Ages therefore 
reached along until they touched that pivotal 
point on which the universe poises now, 


38 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


and upon which it will find its rest, unto 
the Ages of the Ages. Jude seems to cover 
the whole ground of the Ages, as thus indi- 
cated, when he says, “ before all ages and 
now and unto all ages.” In the book of Rev- 
elation this word is generally used in the 
plural — “ unto the ages of the ages ” and is 
translated forever and ever. 

“ But now once in the end of the Ages hath He 
been manifested to put away sin by the sacri- 
fice of Himself.” It is now at the conclusion, 
the closing up together, the convergence of 
the Ages that Christ has appeared. Here 
certainly Ages are set forth which preceded 
the time of the accomplished redemption by 
our Lord. The Age before the flood, the Age 
from the flood to Abraham, the Patriarchal 
Age until Moses, and the Mosaic Age until 
the time of Christ, had come to their ends, — 
had come to their convergence. Life aver- 
aged nearly a thousand years before the flood, 
about three hundred after, much less in the 
days of Abraham, and only about seventy 
after the time of Moses. The Christian Age, 
the Millennial Age and the everlasting Ages 
were to follow. The Christian Age will end 
the week of man’s toil; the one to come will 


THE ARRANGEMENT OF THE AGES 39 


afford the temporal rest, in which this world’s 
weary week will close in a keeping of Sab- 
baths; but it will not be until the triumph of 
resurrection and the destruction of death, 
that the Lord’s Day of divine perfection in the 
activities of the new life, will usher in the 
eternal sphere of the saints’ glory. These 
Scriptures seem to give us an insight into God’s 
orderly arrangement of the infinity of time, 
just as He has arranged the immensity of 
space. 


IV. 


THE AGE-TIMES. 

The word Aeon , slightly modified, appears 
in the form of an adjective. It is used in con- 
nection with life, punishment, fire, glory, gos- 
pel, consolation, kingdom, redemption, de- 
struction, God the Father, the Lord Jesus 
Christ, and the Holy Spirit. It is also used 
in connection with time, in a way that com- 
mands attention and sheds light upon our 
theme. The expressions “ before age-time ” 
( pro chronoon aioonioon ) and also “ age-times ” 
(chronois aiooniois ) occur, as if to indicate 
that there was a period in the long procession 
from the eternity of the past toward the never- 
ending future, which does not come under the 
arrangement of the Ages, and that there is an- 
other period which does come under that ar- 
rangement. There is an unbeginning past. 
There is an unending future. Between these 
two extremes of the past and the future, the 
times of the Ages begin and end. But when 


40 


THE AGE-TIMES 


41 


did these times of the Ages which God knit to- 
gether, have their beginning, and when will they 
have their end ? 

This is not easily determined, but a hint is 
given in the Epistle to Titus. Paul says that 
God made the promise of the life of the ages 
(zoe toon aioonioon ) before age-times began. 
Tit. i: 2-3. This life, promised before age- 
times, is the life which was in the Father, 
which was manifested in His Son, and which 
is imparted to all who believe on His name. 
I John i: 1-3. It is the life which always was 
and always will be — the life common to all of 
the Ages, and therefore is called “ the life of the 
Ages,” or, as our Bible has it, “ eternal life.” 
Now the promise of this eternal life was made 
before age-time began. To whom was the 
promise made ? Surely not to angels concern- 
ing the uncreated race of men. We have no 
hint of that. Was it the Father’s promise to 
the Son ? If so, it has not been revealed to 
us, and we are scarcely warranted in presum- 
ing to enter the holy of holies of the divine 
counsels and, without revelation, to reason 
about its deliberations. Is it not better to 
“ go by the book” and say that the promise 
of life was made to our own race at the very 


42 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


time when life was forfeited by an act of sin ? 
A promise was made indirectly to man, im- 
bedded in the judgment pronounced against 
the serpent in Eden, before the expulsion from 
the garden. Gen. 3: 14-15. If this be a true 
assumption, then “ the age-times,” mentioned 
by Paul, must have begun their course subse- 
quent to the entrance of sin into the world. 
Would it not be safe to say that the arrange- 
ment of the Ages of redemption was fixed to be- 
gin as the hope of salvation dimly sprang up 
in the human heart ? Sin, promise of life, and 
then the beginning of the Ages of redemption 
seem to be the order. 

Paul says that’ the mystery of the Church 
was kept in silence, was unuttered, during the 
whole period of the “ age-times” of the past. 
Rom. 16:25. These “ age-times” could not 
have commenced before God began to make 
any revelation concerning his purpose and plan 
of grace toward the race. Indeed, the con- 
text seems to teach that the Ages have existed 
during the whole period of the revelation of 
God to man. The dawn of revelation began 
immediately after the entrance of sin, and may 
be fixed upon as the beginning of " the times 
of the Ages ” connected with the work of re- 


THE AGE- TIMES 


43 


demption, as it concerns man, and the 
heavens and the earth. 

Of course, this conclusion has nothing what- 
ever to do with Creative Ages, if there have 
been any. The Hebrews seem to have divided 
all time into two periods — the pre-Messianic 
and the Messianic — the former coming out 
from eternity, and the latter passing out into 
eternity. The Ages began in the eternity past 
and roll to the eternity to come. These Ages 
were with them as with us, Kosmic Ages. But 
the creative acts of the infinite past, before 
Chaos was shaped into Kosmos, or the present 
order of things, and the cycles through which 
they ran their course, are not revealed unto us. 
Astronomy and geology reveal their periods of 
changes and cataclysms, of indefinite duration, 
during which the world passed from its inor- 
ganic to its organic condition, under the inter- 
vening and guiding hand of God. During these 
Ages there was motion and being and life and 
death. What produced death, during these 
creative Ages, we do not know. The account 
in Genesis only has to do with our Kosmos 
and not with the preceding Chaos — that is 
with the present order of things. We only 
know that human death came in by sin. Of 


44 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


the reason for death in the lower order of an- 
imals, we have no data for the formation of 
any judgment. Nor have we any means of 
forming a judgment respecting the Ages on 
Ages that passed away before man was created. 
The historic Bible only dates its events from 
the genesis of all things, and with its recon- 
struction from confusion and emptiness when 
“ the spirit of God brooded upon the waters.” 
It passes from Creation, in beginning, clear 
across great cycles of changes to the pe- 
riod of reconstruction and completion, by one 
single leap. It simply states that “ in begin- 
ning God created.” The whole of the creative 
Ages, intervening between that act of bring- 
ing the universe into existence and the 
creation of man, are passed over in silence. 
Then came the time when God made Kosmic 
order out of Chaotic confusion. Here begins 
inspired history, written by “ Moses the man 
of God,” the higher critics to the contrary not- 
withstanding. 

The expression, “ In beginning God cre- 
ated,” is capable of two interpretations: First, 
it might mean “ beginning, ” in the absolute 
sense, before all worlds — the 11 unbeginning be- 
ginning,” as Augustine called it. Wisdom 


THE AGE- TIMES 


45 


seems to speak in Prov. viii: 22-31, as if thebe- 
ginning was equal to everlasting. But there 
is another interpretation which gives to “ be- 
ginning ” a relative signification. In that 
sense it would mean the beginning of time, 
when the creation of matter began, when the 
heavens and the earth were brought into exist- 
ence in their first form. 

This marks the initial time-period of history. 
The former is that wonderful “ beginning” of 
the first chapter of John’s Gospel, when “ the 
word was toward (pros) God and the Word 
was God.” The latter marks a period when 
God made a beginning in His relation to the 
universe, and it is the “ beginning ” of Moses. 
It was the commencement of the Kosmic Ages, 
which, in the plan of God, may still be in con- 
tinuance, but to us they have been superseded 
by the Redemptive Ages, following in the path 
of sin. But this is not the beginning of our 
Kosmic days — it is not the beginning of “ Day 
one.” It is a fact worth calling to mind that 
most of the early church fathers took this 
ground, and Martin Luther drew a black line 
under Gen. i: 1, to separate it as an indepen- 
dent announcement, referring to the creation 
of the matter of the universe together with its 


46 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


laws and forces. Between the first and sec- 
ond verses, ages upon ages may have passed 
away after the creation of matter and before 
the first kosmic day began. The chaos from 
which our world was produced may have been 
the fearful result of a cataclysm in which a 
preceding kosmic Aeon terminated; it may 
have been a world-catastrophe as the result of 
some preceding sin, whose end was the gen- 
esis of the new Aeon of kosmic order. We 
only know from Isaiah 45: 18, “ that God cre- 
ated it not a waste, He formed it to be inhab- 
ited.” God did not create the world in con- 
fusion and emptiness — “ without form and 
void ” — when it first came from His divine 
hand. We have then three initial points to be 
observed. There is first, “ the unbeginning be- 
ginning” of John, the beginning made by God 
in the creation of the matter of the universe, 
and the beginning of the present order of 
things with man at the head, as made known 
by Moses. 

But there is a prophetic Bible which also 
speaks. Its history reveals what we need to 
know of the world before the creation of man, 
and its prophecy reveals so much as is good 
for us to know of the hidden future, of the 


THE AGE- TIMES 


47 


present creation, and after it shall have passed 
away. Hence, this wonderful book tells of a 
palingenesis , of are-genesis of the heavens and 
the earth — a new heaven and a new earth, 
wherein dwelleth righteousness. Our Lord 
tells of the palingenesis , regeneration, or new 
order of things, to be set in motion and estab- 
lished in the universe. Matth. xix: 28. 
Peter makes known the heat and fire out of 
which it will come during “ the day of God.” 
2 Pet. iii: 10-13. John, with his eagle eye, 
pictures the unbounded and endless life, peace 
and bliss of this universe to come. Rev. xxi: 
1-8. 

Now, have we any means of determining 
when these Ages shall end ? The term “ age 
of ages ” seems to indicate a period toward 
which all preceding Ages tended and where 
they will find a goal. It points to a time 
when the redemption work of God will have 
been completed, and every rent, flaw and 
bruise in the whole creation will have been 
permanently healed. Then we are told of “ all 
the generations of the age of the ages” ( pas as 
tas gene as ton aioonos toon aioonoon). This 
pregnant expression seems to open the door 
for a possibility of renewals or reproductions 


48 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


of generations in this everlasting Age — the 
fixed condition of blessing into which the heav- 
ens and earth in their final and perfected con- 
dition are to be settled by redemption. But 
of the nature of these “ generations” we can 
say nothing further than to remind the thought- 
ful student and worshiper that life ever moves 
onward and upward. It will proceed by pro- 
cesses and laws as divinely ordained as now. 
No one has been able to tell, perhaps it is one 
of the things impossible to reveal until the 
“ day declare it,” how much of earth and how 
much of heaven, how little of the present flesh 
and blood and how much of the spiritual life is 
involved in the mystery of that expression. 
But we do know that it will never recede, but 
ever gratify that divine longing: 

“ Nearer my God to Thee, 

Nearer to Thee.” 

This everlasting Age will be introduced by 
the new heavens and the new earth, the new 
Jerusalem coming down out of heaven as a 
bride adorned for her husband, the new man 
in priestly dominion, and righteousness covering 
the earth so long covered with sin and wrong. 
This is the day toward which Peter looked in 
triumphant hope when ascribing glory and do- 


THE AGE- TIMES 


49 


minion and power to God in Christ unto the 
“ Age of the Ages.” When that day shall 
come, the glory due to his name will be laid 
at His feet, and the “ former things ” will have 
passed away forever. Lord, hasten the day! 


V. 


DETERMINING THE AGES. 

Amongst prophetic students there has not 
been a complete harmony in determining the 
number of the Ages, and in fixing the exact 
time when they begin and end. The differences 
have largely risen from a failure to distinguish 
between a Kosmic and a Redemptive Age. 

Time properly began with the creation of the 
heavens and the earth when God made a be- 
ginning. From this initial point, on to the time 
of the orderly separation of earth and sky, of 
sea and land, and the culmination of all in man, 
made in the image of God, we have no record 
of events. Viewed from the point of revela- 
tion, therefore, eternity came up to the be- 
ginning of human existence upon the earth and 
it was broken in its course by the beginning of 
time. Although the earth may have existed 
many millions of years and may have revolved 
in its orbit, yet the human race had not begun 
its course. Therefore, so far as man is con- 


50 


DETERMINING THE AGES 


51 


cerned in his relation to the earth, Kosmic 
Ages must begin with the scene in Eden. 

For all practical purposes, therefore, the eter- 
nity of the past came up to the beginning of hu- 
man history and we may designate that unbe- 
ginning past as an Age — the pre-temporal Age. 
With this assumption, we can mark off five 
distinct Kosmic periods. The first Age might 
be loosely spoken of as extending from the be- 
ginning to the fall. The second extends from 
the fall to the flood. The third covers the 
period from the flood to the second coming of 
the Lord. The fourth is the millennial period, 
extending from the second advent to the judg- 
ment of small and great before the great white 
throne, whether it continue one thousand or 
many thousands of years. The fifth begins at 
the terminus of the millennium and is perpetu- 
ated as “ the Age of Ages,” in the new heav- 
ens and the new earth, after all old things have 
passed away. 

Every one of these Ages ends in the judg- 
ment of sin, except the last age, concerning 
which we have no mention of either sin or end. 
Adam and Eve were expelled from Eden into 
the earth, cursed for their sakes, at the close 
of the first Age. The whole world, except the 


52 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


family of eight imprisoned in the ark, was de- 
stroyed by water at the close of the second. 
The gathering, binding and burning of the 
tares in apostate Christendom, the destruction 
of Antichrist and of that portion of the Jews 
that may have received him, and the judg- 
ment of the confederate nations, constitute the 
three-fold visitation of punishment which will 
close of the third Age. The destructive ven- 
geance falling upon “ Gog and Magog ” and the 
Devil who deceived them, destroying the one 
and casting the other “ into the lake of fire,” 
ends the fourth Age. The fifth Kosmic Age, 
which begins in a fixed condition of blessing 
established in the person and work of Christ, 
and having no end, has nothing said respecting 
it, further than to lift the curtain of revelation 
that we may have a glimpse of its glory. 

These periods, thus indicated, mark changes 
in the condition of the earth , and are, there- 
fore, properly Kosmic Ages. Great changes 
came over the Kosmic order of things 
when sin entered into the world. The sorrow 
of woman, the sweat of man, the sentence of 
death, and the curse of the earth, are grim wit- 
nesses to this fact. Then came the flood and 
its sweeping destruction. Out of this came a 


DETERMINING THE AGES 


53 


world so completely changed that the Word of 
God speaks of “ the heavens that now are ” 
in contrast with “ the world that then was.” 

II Pet. iii: 6, and iii: 7. God “ spared not the 
old world,” that had kosmic conditions so dif- 
ferent from the world in which we live that 
human life is now only about one-tenth as long 
as it was then. These kosmic conditions, 
beginning at the flood, will continue the same 
until the second advent of our Lord, when 
11 creation itself shall be delivered from the 
bondage of corruption.” The condition of 
things established at the advent will remain 
unchanged for a thousand years, and then a 
new earth with new heavens will emerge out 
of the old which shall have passed away under 
fervent heat and consuming fire. It is thus 
plain that we have had three distinct kosmic 
conditions of the earth, and we have the proph- 
ecy and promise of two more to follow. 

Now let us go back to the third kosmic Age, 
extending from the Flood to the Second Ad- 
vent. In this period we can not fail to ob- 
serve three well-defined breaks or minor di- 
visions. These we have already referred to as 
Redemptive Ages, and they are designated the 
Patriarchal, the Mosaic and the Church Ages 


54 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


respectively. A distinct change took place in 
the dealings of God with man at the call of 
Abram. Features quite as new and distinctive 
were introduced by Moses and Joshua. When 
the Jews rejected their Messiah a greater 
change still was made. At that time the in- 
auguration of the Kingdom in manifested 
power was postponed; “ the kingdom of 
heaven ” as a mixture of true and false con- 
fessors to the name of the absent King was 
introduced; and the unpromised glory of the 
Church, securing an election from all nations 
to make “ the Gentiles fellow-heirs, fellow- 
members of the body and fellow-partakers of 
the promise in Christ through the gospel,” 
was revealed. Eph. iii: 6. Whatever may 
be said of the saints before the time of 
Abraham, this testimony of Paul respecting the 
mystery of the Church made known to him, 
settles forever the fact that we who are believers 
in this day and age are heirs to the same inherit- 
ance, members of the same body, and partakers 
of the same promise, with the believers from 
Abraham to Christ. Nationally, the Jew has 
promises and a portion upon the earth into 
which we shall not come. Nor will those sons 
of Abraham who have died in faith share that 


DETERMINING THE AGES 


55 


earthly distinction. They with us, and with 
all who before the days of Abraham died in 
faith, will form the one “ church of the first 
born ones” — “the body” — through which 
Christ shall reign over “ the inhabited earth 
to come.” The Jew who shall be spared and 
saved in that day of vengeance shall inherit 
the earth. Those who “ were of faith ” 
amongst the living and dead of all nations 
shall inherit the glory of heaven. 

There is no foundation whatever for the 
assumption that “ the Church which is His 
Body,” is to be made up only of the believers 
between Pentecost and Parousia. A new 
body was not formed on the day of Pentecost. 
The fact that all Old Testament saints had di- 
vine life through faith in Christ made them 
members of His Body. The special revela- 
tion given to Paul, — “ the mystery” revealed 
through him — was that believers from amongst 
the Gentiles, without taking a place in subor- 
dination to the Jews, as they will do in the 
Millennial Age to come, are now , in this Age , 
heirs to the inheritance, members of the body, 
and partakers of the promise, given through 
Abraham to the sons of Israel. This is the 
new thing — Israel set aside from national 


66 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


supremacy during the present gospel period, 
and all nations evangelized in the power of 
the Holy Spirit. In the next Age these 
national distinctions will again be resumed. 


VI. 


THE DISTINCTNESS OF THE AGES. 

The whole of the Ages, as thus divided and 
subdivided, have definite and distinct char- 
acteristics, alternating like the accent in the 
feet of a verse. In every alternating Age, 
it will be found that God asserts His right and 
title to the earth, by giving it into the posses- 
sion of His people, and in the intervening 
Ages, He takes His place outside of the earth, 
calling out a people to the privilege of fellow- 
ship with Him in this separation. In Eden, 
Adam was placed in full possession of its lux- 
uriant wealth, and he was required to acknowl- 
edge the sovereignty of God by obedience. 
In the next Age, however, all is changed. 
Abel possesses nothing, neither does Seth, his 
successor in the path of faith. Cain has the 
earth. He builds its cities, makes its inven- 
tions, pushes on its civilization, constructs its 
instruments of pleasure, engraves his name on 
the whole scene and makes it a beautiful. 


57 


58 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


comfortable and cultured world, without any 
thought of God. The holy seed simply call 
the name of Jehovah upon themselves and find 
a grave. 

When, however, the next Age opens un- 
der the new conditions, God reasserts His 
rights in the earth and to the earth, and gives 
it over to Noah for man, covenanting that 
there shall be a continuation of the seasons 
and perpetual protection from judgment by 
water. The days of Abram follow, and, 
although everything is promised, nothing is 
given to him. He is made the heir of the 
world, and for time and eternity the world is 
to receive its blessing through him, but he is 
not permitted to possess a foot of its soil. 
The land is claimed by others. He never dis- 
putes that claim, but pitches his tent and 
erects his altar upon the face of the earth, has 
his bones buried in its bowels, and, as he is 
gathered to his fathers, he salutes the promises 
afar off, looking for a city of which God is the 
Architect and Builder. 

After this comes the Age introduced by 
Moses and Joshua, and all is changed again. 
Joshua took possession of Canaan in the name 
of “ the God of the whole earth,” and claims 


THE DISTINCTNESS OF THE AGES 59 


every hill and valley, every city and stream, 
every mine and mineral in the land. Here 
again, God is sovereign of the soil, and bears 
witness to His claim by placing the chosen 
people in the chosen land under laws and 
ordinances of His own appointment. 

With some important changes to be noted 
later, this state of things remained until the 
days of our Lord. He came to His own things 
and His own people received Him not. 
Cast out and killed, He takes His place out- 
side of the whole scene at the right hand of 
the Father and issues a heavenly call to a peo- 
ple having fellowship with Him in this rejected 
position. With Him these followers are 
jointly heirs to all things on earth and in 
heaven, yet they say nothing to “ the powers 
that be ” occupying the place which belongs 
dejure to their Lord. They simply obey and 
witness. They serve their Lord in a patient 
sense of His rejection, and “ they are not 
ashamed of His chain.” Like Abraham, they 
salute the promises, but unlike Him they be- 
lieve they are not far off, but nigh, when in the 
Age to come, God will assert again His right, not 
to one land and one nation, but to all lands and 
all nations, and Jesus will be “ King of 


60 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


Kings and Lord of Lords.” The earth will 
then recommence under the authority of God, 
delegated to His Son and our Lord. God 
will then assert and obtain the sovereignty over 
the whole earth and under the whole heavens. 

Thus we see that at every alternate Age God 
calls His people out from the earth, and sends 
them back to it, while they are not of it. 
They belong to the ecclesia — a called out 
body — perpetuating a separation that ought to 
be as distinct, pronounced and definite as that 
which characterized the life and walk of its 
great head and Lord while upon the earth. 
There was nothing in common between the 
manger of Bethlehem and the palace of Herod; 
there was nothing in common between Christ 
and Pilate, between the upper room and the 
throne of Caesar. There should be nothing in 
common between the Body of Christ and the 
spirit of the world to-day. 

It is fair to admit that in a certain sense 
God has always asserted his claim and title in 
and to the earth. He has not surrendered 
His rights — has not abdicated His throne. 
But during certain Ages, this fact is the char- 
acteristic feature which marks that Age, while 
during other periods, the call of God’s people 


THE DISTINCTNESS OF THE AGES 61 


out of the earth and apart from the organized 
form of society called “ the world,” determines 
its characteristic features. The rejection of 
Christ by the world, and a people called out 
from the course and coming crisis of the 
world — called to fellowship with Christ in His 
present purposes and feelings, and to fellow- 
ship with Him in His coming glory and 
triumph, characterize this present Age in which 
we live. 

When the next Age begins, with as much 
of power and glory as this one began with 
weakness and shame, then will be the time for 
the saints to possess the kingdom and reign. 
In the meantime, it must needs be that the serv- 
ant be as his Lord. 

“Our Lord is now rejected 

And by the world disowned,” 

We must not be accepted 
And by its honors crowned. 

How can we accept honors from the world 
that has put our Lord to death upon the 
cross ? 

These Ages, as thus indicated, maybe called 
the Pre-temporal, the Antediluvian, the Postdi- 
luvian, the Patriarchal, the Mosaic, the Chris- 
tian, the Millennial and the Post-temporal Ages. 


62 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


There are eight in all, beginning with the eternal 
44 first day ” of the week — the days of which are 
Aeons — and ending with 44 the day of the 
Ages” and its generations. They begin with 
no sin to mar the scene, and the Son sharing 
the glory with the Father; they end with sin 
banished by the work of the Son, after He 
has subdued all things unto Himself and de- 
livered the sinless, deathless and foeless king- 
dom, back into the hands of the Father. The 
Pre-temporal Age was the serene Sunday of 
undisturbed peace in creation, but the Post- 
temporal Age will be the eighth day of a glory 
that never can be disturbed because estab- 
lished in redemption. The seventh Age will 
be the time when the Jews will keep their 
Sabbaths — have their rest — on the earth, 
about their earthly Jerusalem; but it will be 
the time for the 44 church of the first born ” to 
have its rest in heaven, in the new Jerusalem 
which is above. 

In the first and second Ages, as well as in 
the seventh and eighth, the Kosmic and Re- 
demptive Ages cover the same periods. The 
time before man, and from that to the flood 
constitute the first two Ages in both divisions. 
The same is true in the Millennial and Eternal 


THE DISTINCTNESS OF THE AGES 63 


Ages. During the third Kosmic Age, reaching 
from the flood to the second coming of Christ, 
there are four well-defined periods in the de- 
velopment of redemption. They extend from 
Noah to Abram, from Abram to Moses, from 
Moses to Christ, and from that to His second 
advent in glory. These Ages correspond 
to our seven days in the week, with a recur- 
rence back again to the first, *or eighth day, in 
which every thing is made new in resurrection 
power. This final eighth day will be its bridal 
day of glory and beauty, as the first was its 
birth day of possibility and promise. We are 
led thus to journey from the unknown Ages 
in the past to the “ Age of Ages ” in the future, 
but the growth from glory to glory, during 
that journey, will take an eternity to under- 
stand. These cycles, however, are never to be 
repeated. Forever and ever — “ unto the Ages 
of Ages ” — every person and every thing in 
heaven and on earth, will be held together, in 
a perfection and blessing, corresponding to 
the merits of its glorious representative and 
Head — the First born of all creation. Al- 
ready Christ is “ in the heavenlies, far above all 
rule, and authority, and power, and dominion, 
and every name that is named, not only in 


64 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


this Age but also in that which is to come.” 
But in the purpose of God — a purpose that 
will be fulfilled in its season — “ He put all 
things in subjection under his feet, and gave 
him to be head over all things to the church, 
which is His body, the fullness of him that 
filleth all in all ” — literally “ that filleth all 
things for Himself in all.” As this condition 
of subjection to Christ is never to be changed, 
there can be no pagan recurrence to the be- 
ginning and no repetition of the cycles through 
which the universe has already passed. It is 
an endless series of progression, not through 
the evolution of self, but through the life- 
creating, life-sustaining and life-guiding hand of 
the “ Father of the Ages,” as our Lord is called 
by Isaiah. He is the “ Wonderful, Counsel- 
lor, Mighty God, Father of the Ages, Prince 
of Peace.” 


VII. 


THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE AGES. 

Every Age has special features that give to it 
a recognized character. In Adam, before the 
entrance of sin, we see the perfection of crea- 
tion under a delegated government, and all in 
sweet and unhindered fellowship with the Cre- 
ator. In Adam fallen, we see grace manifested 
and grace promised in its most embryonic 
form. It is the same God in redemption, pre- 
viously seen in Creation — the tree yielding 
seed — the woman producing a Saviour. To 
this grace, government in its most germinal 
form, and a definite line of descent for the 
promised Saviour, are added, in the days of 
Noah. To Abraham, grace and government 
are more fully unfolded in the family and 
promised to the coming nation. In the days 
of Moses, grace is imbedded in history and 
type, with the accuracy of the principles of 
mathematics, and the statutes for establishing, 
as well as the power for maintaining, govern- 
65 


66 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


ment are given, while the “ law is added until 
the seed should come,” as a “ child-conductor 
unto Christ.” This government matured un- 
der David and Solomon until it became world- 
wide. It was subsequently forfeited by diso- 
bedience and idolatry, and both the govern- 
ment and the power which maintained it 
were taken away in the days of Hezekiah. 
They were both handed over to the Gentile 
nations for a limited and definite time, and 
given into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. To 
this day, sovereignty of the world belongs to 
the Gentiles, while the poor Jew is without a 
country, a home, a king, or a priest. But 
what about the grace promised to, and through, 
Israel ? That was fully and freely offered to 
Israel and through that nation to the whole 
world, but it was scornfully rejected and for- 
feited when our Lord was upon the earth. It 
was taken from them as a nation and given, as 
a sacred deposit, to the Church, made up of in- 
dividuals from both Jews and Gentiles. 

The Church is a third circle, and comes in to 
fill up a gap. It is not a Nation but a Body, 
with an unseen Head. It will continue to oc- 
cupy its unique position until the heart of Israel 
turns to the Lord. It is made up of those who 


CHARACTERISTICS OF THE AGES 67 


confess Jesus as Lord, in the time of His rejec- 
tion. 

It thus came to pass, that when Israel and 
Jerusalem were set aside from their govern- 
mental supremacy in the earth, Gentile na- 
tions were called to occupy their place for a 
time and for a purpose. In the same way, 
when Israel apostatized and was set aside from 
being the people of God, another body was 
called out to witness for His truth. With this 
body began the history of Christendom, just 
as with the removal of governmental supremacy 
from Israel, began “ the times of the Gentiles.” 
With government forfeited, Gentile “ times” 
entered upon their course, and with grace re- 
moved, Gentile “ fullness” began. Israel, how- 
ever, in the coming future, will have both grace 
and government restored to them; both of these 
blessings will return to them when the Lord re- 
turns the second time. It was the “ second 
time” when Joseph made himself known to his 
brethren; it was the second time, that Moses 
succeeded in delivering Israel. It will be at 
the second coming that redemption will come 
to Jerusalem, consolation to Israel and the 
Kingdom of God to the world. But until that 
day, the hardness that has happened to 


68 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


Israel as a nation will continue. The vail 
will remain on their heart, just as they still 
place it upon their faces when they read 
Moses, “ until the fullness of the Gentiles be 
come in. ” It will continue until the last Gentile 
is gathered into the Church by the preaching 
of the gospel. Rom. xi: 25, 26. Their blind- 
ness or hardness only continues until “ the full- 
ness of the Gentiles” has come. It cannot, 
therefore, continue after that period — that is, 
after the Church Age has ended. It is still 
less possible that they should have their deep- 
est darkness after the present gospel Age has 
closed and, therefore, after “ Gentile fullness” 
has been reached. This scripture teaches that 
the blinding hand will be withdrawn, as soon as 
God has “ gathered out of the nations, a peo- 
ple for His name.” The blindness continues 
only “ until ” this election constituting “ the 
fullness of the Gentiles” is complete, and there- 
fore it cannot possibly continue after the full- 
ness is past. Israel will not, therefore, con- 
tinue in blindness after “ the rapture ” of the 
Church, for with that event will end the ingath- 
eringfrom amongst the Gentile nations. With 
the end of Gentile fullness, comes the end of 
Israel’s blindness. 


CHARACTERISTICS OF THE AGES 69 


The expression, “ the fullness of the Gen- 
tiles” is not identical with another, “ until the 
times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.” They are 
often confused and their meaning obscured. 
“ Blindness” continues in Israel , until Gentile 
fullness is reached. That is one thing. Sub- 
jugation continues in Jerusalem “ until the 
times of the Gentiles” are ended. That is quite 
another thing. When, in the providence of 
God, the times of Gentile supremacy in the 
earth come to an end, then Jerusalem will 
cease to be trodden down ; for the Lord will com- 
fort His people, redeem Jerusalem, and “ all 
the ends of the earth shall see the salvation 
of our God.” 

“ Fullness ” evidently means full number. 
“ The fullness of the Gentiles ” would imply, 
first of all, that the full number of the totality 
of nations must be evangelized before Israel’s 
blindness passes away. But, secondly, it im- 
plies with equal certainty the ingathering of 
the totality of the elect, or the full number to 
be taken out of the nations as “ a people for 
His name.” It does not mean — indeed, it 
cannot mean — exegetically, the conversion of 
the nations of the world. Nor does it imply 
that the majority of Christendom will be re- 


70 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


generate. To the contrary, it is limited to the 
thought of universal evangelization and the 
consequent salvation of the full number to be 
gathered out of the world. 

The fulfilling of “ the times of the Gentiles ” 
conveys quite another idea. It gathers about 
the capital city and not about the people; it 
has a bearing upon Jerusalem and not upon 
Israel. It marks that appointed and limited 
time during which the Gentiles are supreme in 
the earth, while Israel collectively and nation- 
ally, lies prostrate beneath their dominion. 
It refers to the time of Gentile dominion just 
as the “ fullness” refers to the period of world- 
wide Evangelization by the Church. It be- 
gan when sovereignty was handed over to 
Nebuchadnezzar, and it will end when that 
same supremacy is restored to Israel again. 
Micah iv: 8; Actsi: 8. It began with a world- 
wide kingdom, having its center in Babylon. 
It will terminate when that part of the earth, 
once ruled by Gentile power, is again assimi- 
v lated under the charm of Imperial authority. 
Civilization began at Babylon. Its march has 
steadily advanced toward the West until the 
extremes are meeting in the East again. 
When it shall have completed the circle, 


CHARACTERISTICS OF THE AGES 71 


reaching the point of its origin, then, under 
the last great Antichrist, it will reach its cli- 
max of glory and gloom, greatness and guilt, 
daring opposition to God, and flaming judg- 
ment from Him. Then will the God of 
heaven put an everlasting end to the rule and 
ruin, the wrong and devastation with which 
the “ Beasts ” of Gentile history, have de- 
stroyed the earth. 

Some have thought that the “ fullness of the 
Gentiles ” gives promise of a time when the 
nations of the earth will nominally come into 
“ the kingdom” in its present unmanifested con- 
dition. If so, it not only promises the conver- 
sion of the elect and the evangelization of the 
world, but also the universal prevalence of that 
unholy alliance that began with Constantine, 
and, in one form or another, has continued un- 
til now. But “ the times of the Gentiles ” has 
no reference to any relation which “ the na- 
tions ” may sustain to “ the kingdom.” They 
are periods of history, marking the subjection 
of a city and the dispersion of a people. There 
can be no doubt, however, that these two pro- 
phetic events terminate at one and the same 
time. The Jew began under Abraham, the 
Gentiles under Nebuchadnezzar many centuries 


72 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


thereafter, and the Church under the Apostles, 
centuries later still. But they will arrive at 
their goal and have their crisis at the same su- 
preme moment. Jerusalem’s humiliation, 
Israel’s blindness, the supremacy of Gentile 
nations, and the Church’s entrance into glory 
all come at the same time. 

It therefore follows that “ the times of the 
Gentiles” which mark the period of their 
cruel supremacy in the earth and over Israel; 
the “ fulness of the Gentiles,” which indicates 
the completion of universal evangelization; and 
Israel’s “ blindness in part,” which describes 
the condition of Jewish unbelief, and woe, 
during this whole church period, will termi- 
nate together, at the close of this present Age. 
This Age ends with “ the harvest ” at the Com- 
ing, Appearing and Revelation of our Lord. 
He will be literally present, He will be dis- 
tinctly visible, and He will be gloriously re- 
vealed. “ The heavens must receive Him 
until” God enters upon the work of the resti- 
tution of the all things promised by the proph- 
ets of the past. Acts iii: 21. Then, and not 
till then, will He come again as Lord of the 
Church, Messiah of Israel and King of Na- 
tions. 


VIII. 


THE RELATION OF THE AGES. 

By the Revelation given in the Scriptures, 
our knowledge extends beyond the ken of 
science. No science has to do with anything 
but the phenomena of the present. But what 
the eye hath not seen, nor the ear heard, nor 
the heart of man conceived, has been revealed 
to us by the Holy Spirit in the Word. For 
this reason we see time, connected with the 
unbeginning past and with the unending future 
of eternity. Accepting this revelation as from 
God, then “ by faith we understand that the 
Ages have been articulated together by the 
utterance of God.” (See the original of Heb. 
xi: 3.) Each Age fits into its predecessor and 
connects with its successor, and all Ages are 
moulded by the supreme energy of God. 
On his account, that which is seen ( blepomena ) 
hath not been made out of things which do 
appear phainomena ). The purpose and aim 
of this knowledge which we gain by faith, in 
73 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


the revelation of God, concerning the Ages, is 
the abiding conviction that the things which 
we see about us in the world, and the Ages 
in which they have been unfolded, are not 
the result of natural causation — they do not 
come from previously existing materials. We 
learn that there is a divine power presiding 
over these great unfoldings of the providence 
of God. Things which appear to our eyes can 
not give an explanation of their origin, either 
in the world of matter, or in the progress of the 
Ages. In the world before us, the thing seen 
does not come from what appears. The seed 
becomes the plant; the grub the moth; and the 
egg the chick. But in the Ages, by faith we 
know, that not blind Fate, but the all-seeing, 
all-loving and all-controlling God, is at the 
helm. The spirit is in the midst of the wheels. 
Both the Ages themselves and their adjustment 
to each other, in their historical succession, are 
the work of an unseen force — a force that does 
not appear. But at each budding point or 
epoch, where the old Aeon goes to its grave 
and the new Aeon arises from its cradle, there 
especially does a supernatural force intervene, 
directing and adjusting each to the other. 
This is the immediate work of God, just as 


THE RELATION OF THE AGES 


75 


much as when, in beginning He created, and 
when in proceeding long cycles afterward, He 
called Kosmos out of Chaos. These unfold- 
ings of the Ages are not, and cannot be, the 
outcome of a blind evolution without origin 
and without end. 

It is most interesting and comforting to see 
how God Himself appears upon the scene, at 
every Node of this supernatural unfolding of 
the Ages. He comes to mould the Age which 
He had planned and determined from the be- 
ginning, and at the front of which He stands. 
At the very beginning, He created the heavens 
and the earth and all the hosts of them. After 
this, He was the voice that talked with Adam 
and the shekinah at “ the East of the Garden 
of Eden.” In the third Age He talked with 
Noah both before and after the flood. In the 
fourth Age of redemption, “ the God of glory 
appeared unto Abram ” and made him “ the 
heir of the world.” In the Age that followed, 
“ the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob ap- 
peared” to Moses “ in the wilderness of Mount 
Sinai in a flame of fire in a bush.” When the 
sixth Age was reached God came again upon 
the scene in a marvelous way at the manger, 
in Bethlehem, at the Baptism in Jordan, 


76 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


amidst the chosen three on the Mount of 
Transfiguration, over the multitude in Jeru- 
salem, at the Cross on Calvary, and at the 
ascension into Glory. 

But by faith we know that He will ap- 
pear again and again, still more gloriously 
at the introduction of each succeeding Age. 
When the seventh or Sabbatic Age of Israel’s 
rest is introduced, it will be in keeping with its 
manifested organization and its governmental 
power. “ Clouds and great glory,” “ lightning 
from one part under heaven to the other,” 
“ the voice of the archangel and the trump of 
God,” “ the sign of the Son of man,” “ angels 
with a great sound of a trumpet,” M revealed 
from heaven in flaming fire,” are terms that 
indicate how God will again appear upon the 
scene at the close of the present, and the 
introduction of the coming, Age. When we 
look forward to the “ Age of Ages,” we see 
still more glorious manifestations of the pres- 
ence and power of God, unfolded to our faith. 
That will be the Age of resurrection, of the new 
beginning and of eternity. Such a glorious 
terminus of the world’s weariness and woe, and 
such a beginning of unutterable glory, will 
have manifestations of the invisible God, com- 


THE RELATION OF THE AGES 


77 


mensurate with its importance. “ The heavens 
and the earth passing away with a great 
noise,” “ the great white throne and Him that 
sat upon it, from whose face the earth and 
the heaven fled away,” “ the new heavens and 
the new earth,” “ the holy city, New Jerusalem 
coming down out of heaven from God made 
ready as a bride adorned for her husband,” 
“ the great voice out of the throne saying the 
tabernacle of God is with men and He shall 
dwell with them and be their God * * * 

and shall wipe away every tear,” are terms 
which indicate that last unfolding of the power 
and glory of God in connection with the 
redemption of man and of his world. 

We begin with the “ first day ” of the Ages 
in the eternity of the past and we end with 
another “ first day ” in the eternity of the 
future. But our God in Christ, who is the 
Father and Fashioner of the Ages, has guided 
to ends of glory of which no mind of man or 
thought of angel could form any adequate 
conception. Step by step, in the long cycles 
of creation, the universe has ascended from 
inorganic matter, to teeming life, with its 
mastery and its mystery. Step by step, the 
cycles of kosmic order, broken by the intrusion 


78 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


of sin, have been knit together in redemption, 
until the whole earth becomes a nobler Eden, 
into which no Satan ever comes and from 
which no man can ever be expelled. Step by 
step, the cycles of redemption have grown, 
advancing in the promises of love, the gifts of 
grace, and the protection of power. Each 
increase of light has more clearly revealed the 
ruin of the human race and the resources of 
the divine Redeemer. The millennial Age 
clears the field and leaves man without a single 
adverse influence from world or Devil, in order 
that it may be seen that in his “ flesh dwelleth 
no good thing. ” The most daring and impious 
act of all the Ages is met by the most glorious 
manifestation of the majesty and grace of 
God. The new heavens, the new earth, the 
new Jerusalem and the new man are God’s 
answer to it all. Utter ruin, seen in man, 
pride forever hidden from his eyes, and un- 
bounded light and love revealed from God, 
are the crown and climax of it all. Beneath 
this dome, man is found in union with God by 
a fellowship of life, knowledge, love and 
power. This is the Jacob’s ladder of the 
Ages, rising from the helplessness of man to 
the glory of God. It is a vast ascension from 


THE R ELATION OF THE AGES 


79 


created matter to organized life; from the 
earth in confusion to the earth in perfection; 
from man created in the image of God, to man 
born with the life of God, glorified in the new 
creation. 

This is what is meant in that promise: “ In 
the dispensation of the fullness of times, to 
reunite all things for himself, in Christ, the 
things in the heavens and the things in the 
earth.” It is worth observing that the word 
translated dispensation here, is almost inva- 
riably rendered “ stewardship.” It is the same 
word used with respect to “ the mystery of the 
church, ”“ the stewardship of the mystery.” 
It suggests that, just as the Church and this 
period of its existence, serve the interests of 
man and the purpose of God, so will that ever- 
lasting Age continue to do the same. Each 
preceding Age served the glory of God and the 
good of His creatures. This “ Age of the 
Ages ” will be no exception, but the highest 
illustration, of the rule. “ His servants shall 
serve Him,” the Age of Ages shall serve Him, 
and all the generations of this everlasting 
period shall serve Him. And when all rule 
and authority are subdued under Christ and 
handed back to the Father, — when every 


80 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


person and thing in the universe are brought 
to serve the purpose of their existence, then 
will the kingdom have come, the will of 
God will be done here as in heaven, and 
“ God will be all in all.” This is the goal 
“ in Christ ” to which the whole creation 
moves. When it is brought under that one 
Head, it can never again be torn away from 
the throne of God, and can never again be 
marred by the sin of His creatures. 


IX. 


THE END OF THE AGE. 

The term “ End ” as a measure of time is 
used in at least three clearly defined senses in 
the Scriptures. It stands first of all for the 
whole of the New Testament period, then also 
for the seventieth week of Daniel, including 
those supplementary seventy-five days, so hard 
to explain, and also for the closing hours of 
this Age. 

It may be helpful to those who have not 
given attention to prophetic study to call to 
mind here, that in Dan. ix : 24-25 “seventy 
weeks” — seventy sevens, “are decreed” — 
literally divided , that is, separated from the 
rest of time. The word translated weeks 
means sevens. It bears the same relation to 
seven that dozen does to twelve, and that dec- 
ade does to ten. It is a hebdomad , or a 
seven. The context shows that years are 
meant. These seventy hebdomads of years — 
490 in all — are divided into three parts; seven, 

81 


82 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


or 49 years, sixty-two or 434 years, and 
one or 7 years. The first two periods 
have been fulfilled. The “ going forth of the 
decree” giving authority to build, the building 
of Jerusalem and the “ cutting off ” of Messiah 
are past. The remaining week of years will be 
fulfilled when Israel is back in Jerusalem in 
some national standing. For these “ hebdo- 
mads ” concern only those periods in which God 
regards Israel as nationally gathered in their 
own city, and in which His hand is directly en- 
gaged in delivering His ancient people. Jerusa- 
lem being set aside at the crucifixion, the plans 
for national blessing were suspended. Their 
course will not be resumed until Israel shall as- 
sume a national existence in Jerusalem. Hence 
the tremendous import of the recent return of the 
Jews, their persecution throughout Europe and 
the conjoint action of the leading powers of the 
world in forcing western principles upon the 
Turkish empire. This last portion of the time 
separated from all the rest, for special dealing 
with Israel will soon be resumed. It is called 
“the time of the end.” See the eighth, 
eleventh and twelfth chapters of Daniel for 
illustrations of this fact. 

But to return to the New Testament period. 


THE END OF THE AGE 


83 


It is a pleasure to quote the following admirable 
words from Dr. Gebhardt to confirm what we 
have stated, that this term “ the end ” is ap- 
plied to the present age: “ Christianity is 
nothing and will be nothing else than the ful- 
fillment of Old Testament prophecy, or the 
realization of the eschatology of the Hebrew 
prophets, throughout the whole New Testa- 
ment time, till the Lord comes — and even on 
to the final glorification of the world.” Pro- 
fessor Volck is more definite and to our purpose: 
“ Since the ascension of Christ we stand in the 
last days, until the Lord comes.” With still 
greater definiteness Dr. Hobart, another pro- 
found student of prophecy, says: “ The whole 
of the New Testament time is called by the 
Apostles and by the Lord Himself ‘ the end. ’ It 
is expressly stated that at His first advent Christ 
appeared at the end of all preceding Ages — an 
‘ end ’ to be closed up by His second advent. 
In this sense our whole Age, in the New Test- 
ament, is conceived of as the end of all the 
Ages that went before.” 

It is with this understanding that we are to 
interpret all of those New Testament passages 
which speak of the “ end ” as about to be 
closed. It is only “ a little while ” as seen from 


84 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


God’s point of view; and only “ a little while ” 
relatively, as compared with the time of the 
Ages that are past and the Ages that are yet 
to come. To the Apostles “ the end ” of 
this end was regarded as near. In the mind 
of John it was “ the last hour.” There was 
nothing to intervene in the action of God be- 
fore its final close. The coming together of 
events in their season would open the way for 
the “ strange work” of God to be cut short in 
righteousness. It was on this account that the 
advent was near, the Judge was standing at the 
door, and they were waiting and watching for 
certain things to “begin to come to pass,” 
when they would “ lift up their head ” — un- 
bend and lift up the head — in expectation of 
immediate deliverance. And this, too, is our 
attitude to-day, while we look at truth in 
the light of God and in the consciousness of the 
whole corporate body of which we form a part. 
In such a sense of corporate unity, it is our 
privilege in looking forward to the end to say, 
“ then we that are alive and remain unto the 
coming of the Lord.” It may not be our 
glory to be “ alive ” when that day comes, but 
we belong to a corporate body , having a con- 
tinuity of the same life, and some of us — some 


THE END OF THE AGE 


85 


of the members of that body — will live to un- 
bend and look up, and be caught up, but not 
before the rest of us are brought up, out of 
death and the grave. It was in this corporate 
sense that Jesus said, “ What 1 say unto you, 
I say unto all, watch.” He spoke to those be- 
lievers and Apostles who at that time repre- 
sented the church as it will be at the time of 
the end. He could address these disciples 
of a coming hour in no other way but through 
the Apostles of His own day. 

But we must not forget that “ the time of 
the end ” is used in a narrower and stricter 
sense in the prophetic Scriptures. It covers a 
period identical with the seventieth and unful- 
filled week of Daniel. It is a period of seven 
years. So, while in its broad sense, it means 
the whole of this gospel Age, in a narrower 
sense it is the last seven years of the Age. 
Butin Matthew xiii: 39, “the harvest is. the 
end of the age.” This marks that short, dis- 
criminating work, when this gospel period has 
been consummated, which results in the Son 
of man sending forth His angels to gather out 
of His kingdom all things that cause stumbling 
and them that do iniquity, to cast them into 
the furnace of fire. Hence “end” may de- 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


fine the whole of this gospel period, or the 
last seven years of the period, or in a nar- 
rower sense still, the very last moments of the 
Age, just prior to the coming of the Lord, and 
“ then shall the righteous shine forth as the 
sun in the kingdom of their Father.” 

When the Apostles, on the slope of the 
Mount of Olives, asked the Lord what “ would 
be the sign of the end,” they doubtless referred 
to this unfulfilled period of seven years fore- 
told by Daniel xii: 19. It is a period divided 
into two equal parts of three and a half years 
each. During the first half of this “ time of 
the end,” the “two witnesses” give their 
solemn message in Jerusalem. In the midst 
of the period they are slain, and during the 
last half of this end-time “ the great tribula- 
tion ” — a time of trouble such as never was 
before and never will be after — will be 
brought to a close by the coming of the Lord. 
Daniel ix: 26, 27, and vii: 25, 26; also II Thes. 
i: 7, 8. Professor Beck, of Tubingen, in a re- 
cent article says: “ The end, in its strictest 
sense, is the last year-week of Daniel, in which 
the final fortunes of Israel and those of the 
Church fall together (now that the Church 
is a fact in history), and whose definite conclu- 


THE END OF THE AGE 


87 


sion is accomplished by the return of the Lord 
from heaven. ” None of the learned students 
of prophecy in Germany seem to think the 
modern vagary of a “ secret rapture ” of the 
church, before the end-time is reached, as 
worthy of serious consideration. They cling 
to the mould of doctrine, concerning the last 
things which has prevailed, with uniform reg- 
ularity in the whole of Christendom, until this 
novelty was introduced a little more than a half 
century ago. That mould has always been as fol- 
lows: the return of Israel, the Imperial unity of 
a world-wide nation, the development of the 
Antichrist, the prevalence of the great tribu- 
lation and the coming of the Lord. Israel as 
a nation, empire universal, Antichrist trium- 
phant, tribulation unparalleled and then Christ 
appears. This is the mould of the creeds of 
Christendom and of the word of God. 

This seems to be the “ end” indicated by 
John in Rev. xi: I - 1 3 . It covers the last part 
of the seventieth week of Daniel. Indeed the 
whole of Revelation from the fifth to the nine- 
teenth chapters inclusive cover this period. 
With these thoughts before us, Revelation can 
be interpreted both in the historic and the fu- 
ture sense. Like the term “ end, ” this book may 


88 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


cover either the whole gospel period, or that 
limited period called “ the time of the end,” 
— the last seven years of this Age immediately 
preceding the “ coming of the Lord.” Pas- 
tor Renck, another German scholar and a de- 
voted student of prophecy, says: “ Our whole 
Aeon , until the return of Christ from heaven, 
belongs to the end-time, as the apostles con- 
ceived it; and the Holy Spirit has given us the 
book of Revelation in order to set before us 
the things that were to come. Because of this, 
the study of that book is the duty of the 
Church and especially of the teachers of the 
Church in the last times. Herein lies the 
strength of the historic interpretations. At 
the same time, the end-period, in its narrower 
sense, is introduced into the book, in connec- 
tion with Jewish prospects, which run parallel 
here, through the last year-week of Daniel, — 
the fortunes of the Church and of Israel cul- 
minating together at the second coming of the 
Lord." The italics are the author’s. 

It should always be borne in mind, however, 
that the complete fulfillment of Revelation 
will take place at “ the time of the end.” 
There may have been a Harlot, a Beast, a 
False Prophet, and a Babylon in the past: — 


THE END OF THE AGE 


that is, persons, places and systems that cor- 
respond to these great coming realities. In- 
deed, their counterpart may be in existence 
now. Many Protestant and some Romanist 
scholars think they do exist now, although 
they will not agree when it comes to defining 
which is which. But the filling full of these 
prophetic unfoldings has never come. It is yet 
to be seen on our earth. When the persons 
and systems and cities, indicated by these 
terms, do appear upon the scene, then God 
will begin His judgments in the earth, prior to 
the revelation of His Son in flaming fire of 
vengeance, clearing the whole scene for the 
“ King of Kings and Lord of Lords. ” To 
this period — this last week of years — the book 
of Revelation belongs. It is the complement 
of the book of Hebrews. The latter shows that 
there is still a temple, an altar, a sacrifice and 
a priest; while the former shows that there is 
a throne, a king and a power to give him uni- 
versal dominion. The one shows how grace 
acts secretly to the eye of faith, and the other 
shows how government will yet act openly, to 
meet the expectation of hope. In the mean- 
time, the unceasing energy of love proclaims 
grace to the individual sinner, and warns the 


90 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


nations in view of the coming kingdom of God. 
“ The kingdom of heaven” — the rule of God, 
delegated to His Son on earth — “ is at hand” 
now as in the days of our Lord. Hence, 
while we preach “ the gospel of the grace of 
God,” already come, it is also “ the gospel of 
the kingdom of God” yet to come to the na- 
tions and to Israel; while it is “ the gospel of 
the glory of God” to the Church in her wait- 
ing hope. 

The effort of some writers to make a distinc- 
tion between the “ gospel of the kingdom” to 
be preached amongst all nations before the end, 
and “ the gospel of grace” preached now, has 
no foundation in fact. There is only one gos- 
pel. It is the good news of grace to the guilty 
sinner, and the good news of glory to the 
toiling saint. It is the good news of a coming 
Kingdom of righteousness to Israel and to the 
nations suffering under misrule. Paul in his 
fervor calls it “ my gospel” just as he says 
“ my God,” and yet means our gospel and our 
God. No, no, it is the one gospel, the only 
gospel, and the everlasting gospel. 


X. 


THIS AGE AND THE NEXT. 

li Neither in this Age, nor the Age to come,” 
said our Lord, shall the “ sin against the Holy 
Ghost be forgiven.” It is a pity our transla- 
tors in the Revision did not put “ age ” in the 
text and “ world ” in the margin. From this 
hint, we learn that in the Age to follow the 
one in which we live, the Holy Spirit will 
continue to be the representative of Deity 
upon the earth, in the practical application of 
redemption to the world. This is so emphat- 
ically true that the Holy Spirit can be sinned 
against in the next dispensation quite as much 
as during this period when especially present 
in the believer. 

In the past Age, God’s election was made 
from one chosen nation; but in this Age He is 
visiting all nations to take out of them a peo- 
ple. At the close of this Age — or rather, at 
the beginning of the next — “ all Israel shall be 
saved,” and after that all nations, as nations, 


91 


92 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


shall be, not only evangelized, but also nomi- 
nally and confessedly converted. God chose 
many out of one nation in the past, to prepare 
the way for choosing many out of all nations 
in the present. In the Age to come, He will 
save the whole of one nation first, in order 
that “ the remnant ” of all nations “ on whom 
the name of the Lord is called, may be saved.” 
In that coming Age, Israel will become the 
center and channel of both grace and govern- 
ment, with the Son of David as King of the 
Jews and King of the nations. After it is 
abundantly demonstrated that man fails to 
respond to grace, and is incapable of using 
sovereign power, in submission to the divine 
will, the New Man, made up of Christ as 
Head and the church as Body, will have both 
grace and government, manifested in absolute 
perfection, amongst all nations and over all 
the earth. During this present Age we see 
grace offered to the acceptance of all nations, 
but government is in the hands of Gentile 
nations, represented as beasts of prey, using 
their position for selfish ends, regardless of the 
will of God or the good of man. Of course 
there have been exceptions in the case of 
individual rulers, but for some sufficient reason 


THIS AGE AND THE NEXT 


93 


they are not mentioned, while the moral char- 
acter of government, during “ the times of the 
Gentiles,” is pictured in this striking way in 
the word of God. In the Age to come, how- 
ever, grace will make God’s “ people willing 
in the day of His power,” and government will 
be in the hands of “ Him whose right it is to 
rule.” Then it will come to pass, for the first 
time during the Ages, that the sovereignty of 
the earth is in the hands of One who is 
infinitely good, and will desire what is best, 
who is infinitely wise, and will devise what is 
best, who is infinitely powerful, and therefore 
will be able to execute what is best. Then, and 
not until then, will government on the earth 
be administered according to the mind of God. 
Until that time comes, we must not be dis- 
appointed if the glory and power of the nations 
are used against, and not for God and His 
truth. Until then, the Colossus stands, the 
Beasts devour, and the Saints suffer. 

But even in this coming Age, the presence 
of men in the flesh will make the perfect 
kingdom of God an impossibility. God’s will 
cannot be done on earth, by natural man, as 
it is done in heaven by sinless angels. Per- 
fect government — perfect administration is 


94 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


one thing, and a perfect people to be governed 
is quite another. Hence the promise that 
“ He must reign till He hath put all enemies 
under His feet. The last enemy that shall be 
abolished is death.” He begins with a saved 
Nation, a reigning Church, a creation deliv- 
ered, a Devil cast out of the earth, and all 
government possessed. He begins as the war- 
like David and continues “ until” every foe is 
vanquished, and then follows the rest and peace 
of the reign of Solomon. Sin will exist, direct 
interference against wrong will fall from 
heaven, nations will render a feigned obedi- 
ence and judgments will fall upon portions of 
the earth not walking according to the ap- 
pointments of God. 

But the saddest of all events in that day will 
be the last great exhibition of man’s depravity. 
In spite of all the manifestations of mercy — 
in spite of all the interference of judgment, 
when Satan “ is loosed for a season,” he will 
gather together the nations “ whose number 
is as the sand of the sea,” and lead them 
“ against the Saints and the beloved city ” 
where the throne of His government is set in 
Zion. So it will be shown, that man is an in- 
corrigible wretch and an utter failure. Tried 


THIS AGE AND THE NEXT 


95 


under conscience and without law, his course 
ended in the flood. Tried under covenant, 
conscience and incipient government, he ended 
in idolatry. Tried under law, separated, pro- 
tected, taught by priest and prophet, he ended 
in the murder of the Son of God. Tried 
under gospel, grace, Bible light and Holy 
Spirit power, he ends in placing the embodi- 
ment of Satan, in the person of the Anti- 
christ, on the throne to be worshiped. Then, 
when tried with Satan cast out for a thousand 
years, with government in the hands of the 
Son of David and with the church of the first 
born, reigning in glory, man in the flesh — un- 
regenerated and uncontrolled by the restrain- 
ing hand of God — poor depraved man is de- 
luded again and joins in the most God-defying 
rebellion in the history of the race. Israel 
began by calling white black. They declared 
that Jesus, the God-man, was in league with 
the Devil when Christ was on earth; Israel 
will end by calling black white and by declar- 
ing that the man in league with the Devil is 
the Messiah to be worshiped. The nations 
began by boasting that the greatness and glory 
given by God were created by man, and they 
will end by a daring attempt to capture, by 


96 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


force, from the hand of God, that greatness 
and glory when it is entrusted to the keeping 
of His Son. 

Then will come the destruction of the nations 
by fire coming down from heaven; the resur- 
rection of the “ rest of the dead ” not included 
in the first resurrection; the final judgment, as- 
signing to each his place of reward or punish- 
ment, according to his deeds; the casting of 
Satan “ into the lake of fire unto the Ages of 
Ages”; and the destruction of death. Then 
follows the passing away of the present heavens 
and earth and the creation of all things new. 
Then will the condition of heaven be restored 
to earth. All things will be under the feet of 
the Son of God. After «the descent of the 
“ New Jerusalem ” into the new earth, then 
here, as yonder, the kingdom will be universal 
and undisputed. Obedience will be as im- 
plicit, self-surrender as complete, and sub- 
mission as universal on earth as in heaven. 
The worship will be as devout, the rule as ab- 
solute, the obedience as perfect, and the de- 
pendence as touching and tender here on this 
very devil-ridden, sin-cursed earth as they 
are now known to be in a sinless heaven. 

This coming Age, however, will not reach 


THIS AGE AND THE NEXT 


97 


its climax at once. It will be one of continued 
conquest. It will begin with a note of victory 
for the “ church of the first-born-ones ” who 
will be loosed from the bonds of death and 
the power of the grave. The living saints 
will be released from the body of humiliation, 
changed in a moment and caught up to meet 
their Lord in glory, while Satan will be bound, 
cast down into the abyss and sealed in his 
prison. Then will begin the work of evangel- 
♦ ism under new conditions, but with the old 
gospel, having the old power of the Holy 
Spirit, and the old instrument of human lips 
and lives achieving its old-time results, with a 
rapidity and an expansion, beyond our power 
to conceive. Then will men begin to under- 
stand with a fuller significance, many words of 
promise which have illuminated the path 
and cheered the hearts of the saints in 
the weary waiting of the suffering past. 
The personal Arrival, or more correctly the 
last step of the Coming, the Appearing, 
and the Revelation or Unveiling, of the 
Lord, will take place. He will come, He 
will be seen, He will be made known. 
The Refreshing, the Restitution, the Regen- 
eration, the Resurrection, the Redemption, 


98 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


the Recompense in a double sense, and 
the Receiving back of Israel. Wonderful 
words, giving promise of more wonderful 
things in the future. Truly the “ morning 
cometh and the night also,” but the night pre- 
cedes the morning — the judgment goes before 
the mercy — life emerges out of death. 

In that Coming Age, when all of these 
promises become possessions and all of this 
prophecy becomes history, then our Lord will 
become the capstone as well as the corner- 
stone. When all things are “ put under ” His 
feet and in His Hands, then, for the first time 
in the history of the Ages, will a Man have 
been found, holy enough to be entrusted 
with, and true enough to use that wonderful 
thing called authority, dominion, power, in 
absolute loyalty to the One from whom the 
power was derived. Every nation and every 
dynasty has used power for selfish ends, re- 
gardless of God, or of His will. But when all 
things are put beneath His feet, as they surely 
will be — when He becomes the King of all kings 
and the Lord of all lords, then will be found 
One, who will use power in obedience to the 
will of God, while serving the good of man. 

This will be a greater test, a more searching 


THIS AGE AND THE NEXT 


99 


test, a more glorious test of the character of 
Christ than that of the forty days fasting in 
the wilderness. And He will prove equal to 
the stupendous issues involved. For “ then 
will come the end when He delivers up the 
kingdom to God even the Father, when He 
shall have put down all rule, all authority and 
power. For He must reign until He hath put 
all enemies under his feet. * * * And 

when all things shall be subdued unto Him, 
then shall the Son also Himself be subject 
unto Him that put all things under Him, that 
God may be all in all.” Then there shall be 
a loud and long hallelujah in the highest 
heavens and to the remotest corners of the 
earth. As in heaven now, so on earth then, 
the perfect will of the everlasting God will be 
done. And the joy, and peace, and glory will be 
as complete and lasting as the God and Father 
of our Lord Jesus Christ is good and great. 
This is the “ Age of the Ages ” and the “ gen- 
erations ” of this everlasting Age will still 
spring up in sinless perfection and youthful 
vigor, but who they are and to what glory they 
may attain, we can not conceive now. We 
can only be silent and adore, while we cherish 
the hope that what we know not now, may be 


100 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


unfolded to our admiring hearts in that day, 
when we see as we are seen and know as we 
are known. 

Recently an attempt has been made to show 
that when Christ has subdued all power be- 
neath His feet, he will reign a long time as 
Son of man. But there is no Scripture for it; 
no good end could be gained by it; and it 
would be contrary to Paul’s statement that he 
“ must reign until ’ all is subdued. He there- 
fore cannot reign after that period except as 
the eternal Son with the Father. 

Briefly, the differences between this Age and 
the next are about as follows: 

1. In this Age Satan hinders the truth 
from taking root where the gospel is preached, 
sends disease, has the power of death, stands 
in the way of the servants of Christ, and be- 
trays them into sin. In the next, no opposi- 
tion will be encountered except that which 
comes from the nature of man alone. 

2. In this Age, government in one form or 
another is in the hands of Gentiles, whose 
principles and practice are often moulded by 
the malignity of the Devil. In the next, all 
governmental authority will be in the hands 
of Israel and under the control of the Jehovah- 
Christ. 


THIS AGE AND THE NEXT 


101 


3. In this Age, Israel is in blindness, 
rejecting Christ and wandering on the earth. 
In the next, they will be a united and con- 
verted nation of priests and kings in the earth. 

4. In this Age, truth is despised, the be- 
lievers are a “ little flock,” and the only victory 
granted is that given to the Master — we live 
through dying, conquer by being conquered, 
and by losing all we gain all. But in the next, 
truth will triumph. The agencies used, and 
the success granted, will bear the same rela- 
tion to the past as the 144,000 of Revelation 
bears to the twelve Apostles of the Gospels. 
Then, it was Paul to the individuals of the world, 
but in the “good time coming,” it will be a 
nation to the nations that are left in the 
world. 

But there will be the same sinful man, the 
same glorious gospel, the same redemption in 
Christ, the same Holy Spirit, and the same 
privilege of service, by word and deed as in 
all of the past. 


XI. 


JUDGMENT OR PROGRESS — WHICH ? 

Many are looking forward for a peaceful 
growth of the gospel, for an advance in right- 
eousness, for an extended application of the 
principles of the Kingdom of God, until the 
present wail of 

‘ ‘ Right forever on the cross, 

And wrong forever on the throne ” 

is completely reversed. If it were a matter of 
feeling, or prejudice, or opinion, then one man 
would have as good a right to his convictions 
as another. But when it is purely a matter of 
revelation — a matter about which the wisest 
man is as ignorant as the most pitiable imbecile 
- — then every heart must stop to ask, “ What 
saith the Scriptures ? How readest thou ? ” 
Bear in mind what has been said about the 
alternating character of the Ages. In the pres- 
ent Age, God is leaving man in undisputed pos- 
session. In the Age to come He will again re- 
assert His right and title to this earth. In 

ioa 


JUDGMENT OR PROGRESS 103 

every preceding Age, when this has been done, 
God began by sitting in judgment upon the 
scene. Noah’s lordship over the earth was 
preceded by God declaring “ that the wicked- 
ness of man was very great,” and therefore He 
said: “ I will blot out man whom I have cre- 
ated.” Then came the flood, destroying the 
race at a stroke. Again when God saw that 
“ the cup of iniquity ” in the seven nations of 
Palestine was full, He gave them over to de- 
struction and their land to His people. When 
God arises again to assert His right and title 
to the earth, He will repeat this process. He 
will begin by chastisements and these will be 
followed by judgments, so universal and so ter- 
rible that, unless the days of this “ strange 
work ” should be cut short in righteousness 
there “ should no flesh be saved.” If He de- 
lays and waits in long-suffering patience, as if 
He did not know how to bring down the blow 
of retribution, He will finally strike as if He 
did not know how to spare. The threshing 
floor will be thoroughly purged. 

The book of Revelation, from the sixth chap- 
ter to the nineteenth, details these terrible 
chastisements, immediately preceding the reve- 
lation of the Lord from heaven — introducing 


104 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


“ the wrath of the Lamb.” These chapters 
do not describe the development of the evil of 
the earth, they only give its character when 
fully matured. They do not describe the final 
execution of the just judgment of God; they 
only tell of the woes under seals, trumpets and 
vials, immediately preceding the final crash. 
“ Immediately after the tribulation of those 
days,” and after the darkened sun “ shall the 
sign of the Son of Man appear in heaven com- 
ing on the clouds of heaven with power and 
great glory.” The Lord will not come before 
this tribulation. His ow; words are distinct, 
definite and unalterable. “ Immediately after 
the tribulation” He comes with power and 
great glory. 

Perhaps there is in the Bible no scene so 
picturesque, so vivid and so solemn, as that 
given by the prophetic statesman, Daniel, in 
the seventh chapter of the book bearing his 
name. There we see God in heaven, sitting 
in judgment on the whole condition of things 
on earth, at the close of this Age, and just pre- 
vious to the sending forth of His Son to take 
the reins of government. Jesus is now wait- 
ing in expectation, until His foes are made a 
stool to His feet. In the near future, God will 


JUDGMENT OR PROGRESS 


105 


undertake to deal with these foes as He did in 
the days of Noah and of Joshua. The sublime 
language of the prophet describes that scene. 
Listen: “ I beheld till thrones were placed 
and One that was the Ancient of days did sit. 
His raiment was white as snow and the hairs 
of His head were as pure as wool; His throne 
was fiery flames and the wheels thereof burn- 
ing fire. Thousand thousands ministered unto 
Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand 
stood before Him. The judgment was set and 
the books were opened, because of the voice 
of the great words spoken. * * * I saw 

in the night visions, and behold there came 
with the clouds of heaven One like unto the 
Son of Man, and He came even to the Ancient 
of days. And there was given to Him domin- 
ion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, 
nations and languages should serve Him.” 
This marks an Epoch in the purposes of God. 
It is a sublime and awful picture speedily 
to be inaugurated in heaven and then it 
will burst upon the earth. It points to 
the time when the “Ancient of days” 
shall sit in judgment, when a searching 
examination will be made into the moral con- 
dition of the kingdoms of “ the inhabited 


106 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


earth,” when God, ceasing to act in grace, will 
impute to men their trespasses, and when 
Jesus Christ will be invested with the sover- 
eignty of the whole world. After His investi- 
ture, He will come forth in great power and 
glory, dealing first with the “ kingdom of 
heaven” or “the kingdom of God ” now in 
mystery, then with Israel and finally with the 
last phase of Gentile rule in cruel despotism 
and daring blasphemy. After sweeping the 
whole scene clear by a stroke of His justice, 
and after binding Satan, the unseen cause of 
the daring evil, He will prepare the territory 
and begin His beneficent reign over the chosen 
land and over the whole earth. “ He shall not 
fail nor be discouraged till He hath set judg- 
ment in the earth, and the isles shall wait for 
His law.” Thus will begin, first in heaven 
and then on earth, the reign of the Prince of 
Peace, and there will be no halt in His onward 
march, “ Conquering and to conquer ” until 
every foe is vanquished, and the rule of right- 
eousness is once more supreme in the universe 
of God. This is what is immediately before 
us now. 

The word of God is false or this present 
Age must break up in judgment. It is the 


JUDGMENT OR PROGRESS 107 

only view taken in the Bible. Iniquity 
abounds, evil men wax worse and worse, the 
Church becomes a spiritual harlot, Antichrist 
careers to his daring climax and the Lord 
comes, bringing relief to His people, and 
flaming fire of vengeance to the scene of 
willing ignorance of God, and unbelief of His 
gospel. What is the use of playing fast and 
loose with this question ? Why not be brave, 
and honest, and face the facts, ye believers in 
the word of God ? As for those who prefer 
human speculation to divine revelation, the 
utopian dreams of men to the unerring teach- 
ings of God, there is nothing to be said. 

No doubt, many devout souls are slow to 
accept these conclusions because so many 
Scriptures promise the triumph of truth. They 
are in a position exactly corresponding to the 
disciples in the days of our Lord. It seemed 
impossible to them to reconcile rejection and 
crucifixion with the promise of universal 
dominion and the reign of righteousness. But 
the suffering had to come to Christ as the 
foundation step to glory. The Church cannot 
be above her Head, nor the servant above his 
Lord. The triumph will come, but not with- 
out the judgments and sufferings that go 


108 THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 

before. Let it once be seen, that there is an 
Age of victory to follow this one of vanquish- 
ing, an Age of triumph to succeed this one of 
trial, an Age of universal salvation to succeed 
this one of election, and the whole difficulty 
vanishes out of sight. “ Distinguish the Ages 
and the difficulties disappear.” We “taste 
the powers of the world to come ” now. 
They will be realized to the full, when that 
coming hour bursts upon our view. 

The learned Luthardt of Leipsic says: 
“ The stadium (that is, the course marked by 
divine appointment) of the world-kingdoms 
began with the Babylonish captivity. Upon 
the predicted ruin of these kingdoms prophecy 
erects its hope of the future. In the Beati- 
tudes and in the Lord’s Prayer our Lord Him- 
self has planted the same hope. In the Gos- 
pels, Epistles and the Revelation, the same 
hope is repeated and connected with the com- 
ing of the Lord. The extension of missions, 
the deepening of Apostacy at the same time, 
the fullness of the Gentiles, the Antichrist, 
the conversion of Israel, the Great Tribula- 
tion, the Advent of the Lord, all these are set 
before us, and the end of our Age in judgment, 
in the clearest manner. Culture and civiliza- 


JUDGMEAT OR PROGRESS 


109 


tion are good in their places, but neither is 
holiness or grace, and their progress and con- 
tinuity can no more bring in the perfected 
kingdom of God in the future than in the past. 
The highest point of these has ever been the 
deepest depth of unbelief and immorality in 
days gone by. And just when the world is 
most cultivated, and most infidel, the trumpet 
will sound. Our Age ends in judgment and 
the coming of the Lord in judgment, in order 
to salvation. In plainest terms he tells 
us that the condition of the world when the 
end of this Age comes, will be as it was in the 
days of Noah and Lot, the days of Sodom 
and Gomorrah.” This is a painful picture, but 
it corresponds exactly with the description given 
in the Word, and spoken by the Son of God. 
Why cry peace, peace, when there is no 
peace ? Why do men of God flatter man and 
the governments of the earth by praising a prog- 
ress away from God and a rule for self ? There 
is a coming storm in a night of unutterable 
woe, before the dawning of the day of right- 
eousness and peace. O for the days of some 
John the Baptist, or Luther or Knox or Ed- 
wards, to awaken the slumbering saints and to 
arouse the nations, made drunk with the wine 
of worldly ambition and material triumph. 


XII. 


THE DOCTRINE IN HISTORY. 

The doctrine of the Ages seems to have been 
lost to sight after the fourth or fifth centuries. 
It could not very well maintain its hold upon 
the Christian thought and conscience without 
offering a constant protest against the course 
which a secularized Christianity, in its corpo- 
rate capacity was made to take at that time. 
Up to the time of the Reformation nothing 
could be expected from men whose eyes were 
turned in other directions and whose minds 
were blinded. Either the distinctive features 
of this Age of gospel preaching and world- 
wide Evangelism must be forgotten, or the 
submission to the State must be abandoned. 
It was forgotten and the unholy alliance was 
maintained. 

For good reasons the Reformers did not re- 
cover this truth from Roman rubbish. Adolph 
Saphir says: “ The Reformation had two de- 
fects. In the first place, they did not distin- 


IIO 


THE DOCTRINE IN HISTORY 


111 


guish the dispensations. * * * If they 

had distinguished the dispensations of the 
kingdom and of the church they never could 
have approved of Servetus being put to death 
because he was a heretic, * * * for in the 

church there is no sword. The sword is only 
in the kingdom. * * * In the second 

place, they did not understand clearly the po- 
sition of the Jews, * * * nor the second 

advent of our Lord, nor the difference between 
the church position and the position of Israel, 
both in the past and the future kingdom.” 
Personal salvation they preached, and “ this 
was the center, but all the circumference they 
left out — the plan of God t the kingdom of God, 
* * * the elective dispensation under Israel 

in its contrasts to what came afterward. The 
consequence was * * * the .world in its 

philosophy and its science was constantly un- 
dermining the circumference. * * * The 

highest point from which the whole of Moses 
and the prophets, and the whole of the Gos- 
pels, Epistles and Apocalypse can be compre- 
hended, both in their unity and their diversity, 
is the glorious appearing of the Great God and 
Saviour — Jehovah, coming to Israel to restore 
the kingdom to the nation — Jesus, that same 


112 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


Jehovah, coming to the Church to receive the 
saints, that they, in heavenly places, may reign 
with Him.” This sweeping statement about 
the Reformers, however, is only true in its 
fullest extent of those on the continent. In 
England, Cranmer, Latimer and Ridley held to 
the future conversion of the Jews and inter- 
preted the coming of the Lord literally. 
Luther vacillated and taught contradictory 
things on these matters, as is well known to 
the students of the Reformation. 

It would be too much to expect these men 
to do everything. They opened the door for 
an understanding of the last things, although 
they entered not themselves. They destroyed 
the Lateran view of the millennium, but did not 
replace it by the truth of the Bible. But their 
greatest failure was the failure to recover the 
doctrine of the Ages from the errors of Rome. 

Can any one doubt the blessed results that 
would have come to Christendom if this doc- 
trine, together with a clear conception of this 
present Age and its characteristics, had been 
apprehended by the Reformers ? The discov- 
ery of “ justification by faith,” lost for a thou- 
sand years, wrought wonders, but this did not 
and could not keep Luther from leaving the 


THE DOCTRINE IN HISTORY 


11B 


Church still bound to the State. Nor did it 
prevent other great leaders from appealing to 
the State for the use of its power against their 
enemies. 

It is true that Paul counselled and com- 
manded submission because “ the powers that 
be are ordained of God ” and also because, in 
the interest of law and order the civil magistrate 
“ is the minister of God * * * for good and 
beareth not the sword in vain, but is a revenger 
to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.” 
Therefore we “ must needs be in subjection, 
not only because of wrath, but also for con- 
science sake.” Yes, there is nothing more 
true than that civil society is “ an ordinance of 
God.” But let it ever be borne in mind, that 
its functions extend to civil matters only , for 
the protection of civil rights, in civil relations, 
but never in matters spiritual. To ground the 
right of appeal to the State on these passages, 
in matters of religion, and the right of a civil 
power to enforce a creed or confession by 
civil penalties, is a manifest perversion of the 
Word of God. Under the false charge of 
treasonable purposes against the Empire, Paul 
appealed to Caesar. But could he do other- 
wise ? When accused of plotting a revolution 


114 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


against the Empire, there was nothing left to 
him but an appeal to the tribunal competent 
to determine the facts. But to go to the 
State to uphold or enforce a creed is quite an- 
other matter. 

It is not a matter of surprise that a course 
so unscriptural, and so contrary to the genius 
of the present Age, should be marked by such 
undesirable results. Not even does an appeal 
to Church courts and councils, under forms of 
judicial procedure, reach satisfactory ends. 
Generally the head of the saint goes to the 
basket, and the way of the ungodly rules the 
day. The One who is to reign in righteous- 
ness has not yet come to preside over the 
courts of the Church, much less over the coun- 
sels of the State. 

In the murder of the Nazarene, no appeal 
was made but to the God of justice. The 
martyrdom of Apostles, Evangelists and Pas- 
tors, as well as millions of Christians, in the 
early centuries, never suggested an appeal to 
the State or to the sword. These thoughts 
came in with the apostacy, when the mantle 
of Christ was thrown over the men of the 
world. Then it came to pass, that the pro- 
fessed Christians, who stepped into the seat of 


THE DOCTRINE IN HISTORY 


115 


power, turned the artillery of the state against 
the true followers of Christ, whose creed did 
not square with their own. Pagan on the 
throne or off the throne, Christ and His fol- 
lowers were ever on the cross. The professed 
Church, assuming the functions of the State, 
became possessed by the spirit of the State. 
She forsook her Lord and lost His Spirit. 
She gave her affections to His enemy, and be- 
came the channel of His enemies’ hatred to 
the church. 

Dr. Kleifoth, of Schwerin, Germany, the 
greatest student in Europe of the last things, 
says: “ It was not until the Age next follow- 
ing the great Reformation of the sixteenth 
century, that the church was aroused to a 
deeper study of the future, for the kingdom of 
God on earth. It was then that she grasped 
first of all the pathway of development which 
the kingdom of God in the form of the Chris- 
tian Church must take along the Ages, until the 
final goal of its consummation. It was the 
Reformation which, reacting against Rome, 
and setting out from the standpoint of the 
sole, supreme infallibility of the word of God, 
first opened the door, in modern times, to the 
wider study of eschatology. The result of all 


116 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


is that now in our time, this branch of Biblical 
study has acquired for itself an independent 
position, and a firm exegetical grounding 
which nothing can disturb, although even yet 
a large body of Christian teachers seem un- 
acquainted with this fact and continue to wo- 
fully neglect the prophetic word.” 

The Reformers did not always go back to the 
foundation of things in these matters. Had 
they come out from Rome’s determination to 
rule in an Age when Christ was content to be 
crucified, how different had history been. 
What wars and woes, what prostitution of the 
Church of God to the caprices of the Caesars, 
what lapses and what pitiable weaknesses would 
have been avoided had these servants of God 
come to understand the special features of this 
Age of Messiah’s rejection and Israel’s blind- 
ness, of the Churches’ calling and the Gentiles’ 
dominion. And even until to-day, throughout 
the whole of Europe, the professed Church is 
under the control of nations still moulded by 
the spirit of Satan. And if the whole truth 
must be confessed, this is more emphatically 
true in Protestant England and Germany than 
in Patriarchal Russia and Papal Italy. 
Although America has no formal union of 


THE DOCTRINE IN HISTORY 


117 


Church and State, yet do not her Christian 
teachers go contrary to their complete sep- 
aration when appealing as churches to the 
State for the enactment of laws to aid in the 
maintenance of her principles ? Is it right to 
throw the conscience of the Church over the 
conduct of the State ? Is the work of the one 
so identical with that of the other that the same 
principles must govern in both ? If so, in 
what do Protestants differ from Romanists, 
except in this, that they assume to be, by 
divine right, the keepers of the nation’s con- 
science while they deny this position to the 
Papal hierarchy. 

The gifted Luthardt of Leipsic, an author 
well known to American students, has ex- 
pressed himself freely on the study of pro- 
phetic truth. He says: “ The progress of the 
Church since the Reformation demands cor- 
responding progress in prophetic study. The- 
ology is not something accidental or unneces- 
sary, but essential for our Age. Its develop- 
ment stands under the guidance of the Holy 
Spirit. So must also the development of 
study in the prophetic Word. Therefore, 
now are the Churches’ eyes directed to the 
future more earnestly than ever before; to the 


118 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


true sense of prophecy as against the false 
lures of independent and unskillful sects, on 
the one hand, and the false conceptions in the 
Church on the other. The Reformation did 
much to open the way for a better understand- 
ing of the Word of God, in reference to the 
great doctrines of salvation. But Luther and 
his reformers had not the call, therefore not 
the possibility nor opportunity to attain to the 
correct knowledge of the last things in their 
relation to the kingdom, that we have in our 
day. Their call was to establish forever the 
certainty of salvation by justifying faith alone. 
Different problems are given of God to be 
solved by the Church at different times, and 
ours is the doctrine of Eschatology, as a legiti- 
mate consequence of the doctrine of justifica- 
tion by faith. No man will maintain that this 
branch of study has received the same ade- 
quate attention which the Church has given 
to the study of theology.” 

Again the same author says: “ Anthropol- 
ogy, Christology, and Soteriology — in these, 
great progress was made in the Reformation, 
but it is certain that progress in one develop- 
ment of study necessitates progress in every 
other — for the truth is one — an organism. 


THE DOCTRINE IN HISTORY 


119 


And eschatology is of the greatest practical 
importance for the church, in the conflict with 
the world.” 

Surely the time has come for devout schol- 
ars, and enlightened exegetes, to give a 
patient examination of the teachings of Scrip- 
ture respecting the things about to come to 
pass. It has been left in America, for the 
most part, to men who are neither fitted by 
scholarship nor by a pious reverence for the 
Word of God, to unfold these great things for 
the guidance of the Church. 


XIII. 


THE AGES AND THE BIBLE. 

St. Augustine says: “ Distinguish the Ages 
and the Scriptures will harmonize.” Nothing 
exceeds the importance of this fact in the 
study of the Bible. Unless the principle of 
progress that underlies the doctrine of the Ages 
is understood, little advance can be made in a 
broad and comprehensive interpretation of the 
Word of God. Schopenhaur says: “ A work 
consisting of one idea, however comprehensive, 
must possess perfect unity. It may consist of 
parts, but they must be organically connected, 
so that each part supports the whole and is 
supported by the whole. The whole is illus- 
trated by every minute part, and even the 
smallest part cannot be understood unless the 
whole has been comprehended.” 

The Bible is constructed on that principle. 
It is pervaded by one idea, and this, in some 
sense, is in every part. The end explains the 
beginning, and the smallest parts are illumin- 


120 


THE AGES AND THE BIBLE 


121 


ated by the whole. The beginning presup- 
poses the end, as the end does the beginning. 
The One who inspired the first chapter of 
Genesis saw the truths of the last three chap- 
ters of Revelation. This book cannot be 
treated as mere literature. It is the instruc- 
tion given by God to His people, with a full 
knowledge of all the Ages, and in accordance 
with the characteristics of the Age in which 
they lived. The first part of that Revelation 
contains, in germ, everything that was after- 
ward unfolded. Of none of the books of the 
Scriptures can it be said this is simply historic, 
or lyric, or prophetic; but all of these books 
are pervaded by the one main principle, in- 
wrought with the same harmony visible in 
every living organism. The whole Book, 
whether in history or in song, in teaching or 
prophecy, culminates in the last, the Revela- 
tion — that book which, in the last days, will 
become what it was in the first days of the 
Church — the best-beloved and most-studied of 
the whole — “ the revelation of Jesus, which 
God gave unto Him to show unto His servants. ” 
Dr. Kleifoth says: “ While it is true that 
there never has been a time when the Church 
has forgotten the hope of the future, although 


122 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


she viewed it variously, and often erroneously, 
it is also true that since the first Age of the 
Church, when she was predominantly escha- 
tological, there has never been a time when 
she has made eschatology the middle point 
on which her thought has been concentrated. 
Theology, Christology, Anthropology, Soteri- 
ology, all these circles of doctrinal study, have 
each in turn been the middle point of her 
thinking and her movement amid great crises 
and struggles for the truth. Rather, save the 
consideration of death, resurrection, judgment 
and eternity, in relation to the individual , the 
whole subject of the ‘ last things ’ in relation 
to the kingdom of God and the outcome of the 
Ages has been regarded as of secondary im- 
portance, or if touched upon at all, it has been 
viewed more as a brief appendix to the body of 
the doctrine. * * * But it will not and 

cannot remain neglected. In face of the false 
doctrine so rife in our times, that the world goes 
on independently by its own laws, in a course 
of natural evolution, by means of culture and 
civilization, philosophical enlightenment and 
scientific progress, to reach the ‘ golden age ’ 
— and that the Church will expand herself to a 
world-wide and only religion on earth — the 


THE AGES AND THE BIBLE 


123 


truth of the Bible must assert itself, and con- 
demn the false speculation, unless the Bible 
itself is discarded for human schemes and 
opinions. The ‘ progress ’ of all other 
branches of Biblical study demands and will 
compel progress in this also.” 

A well-known scientist who has recently 
died says: “ The beginning and the end of 
things is absolutely hidden to science.” It 
deals only with phenomena, but the beginning 
and ending of things are beyond its view. The 
same is true of the history of man. But by 
Revelation we go back beyond history, and for- 
ward into the future, and learn its end. Ranke, 
the great historian, has frankly said of Gen. x: 
“ There is something here different from all 
other history — all the tribes of the earth are 
related to one another by their common de- 
scent from Shem, Ham and Japhet.” Only in 
this book do we learn that the race is a unit 
and all nations brothers. 

From this book alone the true idea of his- 
tory is learned, that the human race is one, 
and that events succeed each other with a con- 
stant tendency toward some definite end. 
Hence the chronicler of events has passed 
away, and the historian has taken up the tale 


124 THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 

of those nations and events that stand in vital 
connection with the stream of history, and 
which contribute something to the ends at- 
tained. 

This unity of purpose runs through all 
prophecy. The prophetic Scriptures are but 
a development of Baalam’s great prediction. 
In the utterances of Baalam and the symbols 
of Daniel the ground-lines and predetermined 
epochs of history, down to the second coming 
of Christ are clearly imbedded. Every pro- 
phetic utterance from the song of Moses to the 
visions of the Apocalypse, is constructed on 
this plan. The prophet looks through one 
Age into another. Hence, he who does not 
understand the Ages can neither read the his- 
tory nor the prophecy of the Old and New 
Testaments with intelligence. The study of 
the Scriptures and of Theology, apart from 
the unfolding of the prophetic doctrine of the 
Ages, is the omission of the only factor that 
can give unity and consistency to the truth of 
God. No satisfactory results can come from 
it; it is the merest child’s play. One might 
as well attempt the construction of a ship 
without a keel, as to formulate a systematic 
statement of truth, without including the doc- 


THE AGES AND THE BIBLE 


125 


trine of the Ages. John Locke, the philoso- 
pher, was a devout student of Scripture. He 
had an apprehension of the importance of a 
connected view of God’s progressive unfolding 
of Redemption. He says: “ All these dis- 
pensations in the several Ages of the Church 
were all by the preordination of God’s purpose, 
regulated and constituted in Christ Jesus our 
Lord.” We study the world created by God, 
we adore Him for the riches of grace accom- 
plished in redemption, but has He not planned 
the Ages and filled them by the wonders of His 
love and power ? Shall we ignore these Ages 
and omit the study of what God has done and 
is doing, in the processes of their develop- 
ment ? The world was created by the Word 
of God, and it became the scene where re- 
demption was finished by the Son of God, but 
the long and ever uyifolding Ages are the suc- 
cessive steps of progress in applying that divine 
undertaking to man and to his world. Just as 
the seed bursts into life, producing “ first the 
blade, then the ear, and then the full corn in 
the ear,” so have the Ages grown, and so will 
they continue to grow, until “ in the dispensa- 
tion of the fullness of times,” they culminate 
in unmarred perfection. 


126 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


If all Scripture is divinely inspired and prof- 
itable, then all Scripture ought to be studied. 
Becoming modesty, to say nothing of reveren- 
tial obedience, should lead Christian teach- 
ers to feel that they are not fully equipped 
for the great work committed to their care 
until they have mastered in some measure the 
things that have been revealed. Whatever 
may be said in favor of the study of dogmatic 
or prophetic Scripture, applies with increasing 
urgency to what is revealed concerning the 
age-steps in redeeming work. A large part of 
the Bible is prophetic, and all we enjoy to-day 
came in the fulfillment of prophecy. And yet 
how the Scriptures of the prophets are neg- 
lected. Some teachers even dare to discour- 
age the study of this truth, unconsciously using 
the plea of Romanists, that it is dangerous and 
useless. Can that be right in the Protestant 
which is wrong in the Papist ? What an im- 
pertinence to undervalue that to which God 
has attached so much importance. What 
presumption to undertake the leadership of a 
flock of God without a knowledge of all 
Scriptures, given “ that the man of God may 
be perfectly furnished.” How can the soldier 
be perfectly equipped when he lays aside part 


THE AGES AND THE BIBLE 


127 


of his armor? Remember it is of prophetic 
Scripture that God says, “ whereunto ye do 
well that ye take heed in your hearts until the 
day dawn and the day star arise. ” Every other 
light is but an ignis fatuus — a “ will o' the 
wisp ” — in the midst of the grave difficulties 
which now face both Church and State, Christ- 
ian and unbeliever, in these portentous times. 

It is not too much to say, that without an 
understanding of the truth that gathers about 
the dispensations, the difficulties in the way of 
interpreting the Scriptures are almost insupera- 
ble. As well might one think of gaining a 
clear knowledge of the human body when ig- 
noring the vertebrae, the alimentary system and 
the voluntary and sensitive nerves, as to at- 
tempt to arrange the great principles of the 
Scriptures in their relations and due propor- 
tions without a recognition of the doctrine of 
the Ages. Every ship has a keel, every body 
has a backbone, and every nation, either in 
writing or tradition, has a constitution. Con- 
fusion comes from ignoring these facts. There 
is system everywhere. God, in beginning 
His relation with the universe, was not moved 
by a blind impulse without definite aim. He 
had his own counsels, He made His plans to 


128 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


meet His purpose, and He is filling in the Ages 
according to the “working drawings.” All 
who ignore these great facts — these arrange- 
ments of the Ages — will make “ confusion 
worse confounded.” They will be blind as to 
the character of the judgments, and indiffer- 
ent as to the great hope of the Church in the 
coming of the Lord. They will take truth, 
given to the Jews, and applicable to them 
alone, and divert it to the Church, thus chang- 
ing the very object of prophecy. They will 
draw arguments and analogies from the state 
of the Jews when God was their king, to apply 
them to nations now when sovereignty is com- 
mitted to their trust under vastly differing cir- 
cumstances. They will take the blessedness 
belonging to Jerusalem in the “ Age to come ” 
and so pervert it to the “ present Age ” as to 
flatter and deceive the nations that are soon to 
be cut off by the terrible judgments of God. 
Indeed Christians inside of the Church have 
plundered the Jews of their spiritual things 
with as much cruelty and as little conscience 
as the professed Christians in the nations have 
plundered them of their earthly things. And 
the distortion, misapplication and cruel confu- 


THE AGES AND THE BIBLE 


129 


sion of the truth of God is due to the prevail- 
ing ignorance respecting dispensational ar- 
rangements more than to any other cause. 


XIV. 


BETTER OR WORSE. 

The question is often asked, “ Is the world 
getting better or worse ? ” This might be 
answered in many ways according to what is 
meant. Does it mean physically, politically, 
socially, morally, spiritually or religiously ? To 
the honest inquirer this does not have any 
bearing on railroads, steamboats, telegraphs, 
schools, universities and civil administration. 
The meaning is this: Is the world as a world 
in general, morally, spiritually and religiously 
superior in its life, manners, maxims — in its 
personal and private relations — in its public 
principles and commercial conduct — in its dis- 
charge of the duties of veneration and love, 
such as the love of children for parents and of 
pupils for teachers — in its special duties of 
fidelity between husband and wife, of purity 
between the sexes, of temperance, of obedience 
to law and order, of respect for human life, of 
hatred for blood-shedding and scenes of brutal- 

130 


BETTER OR WORSE 


131 


ky, of political honesty and public righteous- 
ness, and of personal repentance toward God 
and faith in the Lord Jesus — is the world thus 
viewed when subjected to honest inquiry, better 
relatively and absolutely, than it has been at 
any one time during the last 1800 years ? Is 
it better or worse, since the beginning of the 
gospel Age ? 

The question can only be answered truth- 
fully by a specification of given nations and 
by a comparison of different periods in their 
existence. For example, was Rome, during 
the first 500 years of her existence better or 
worse than in the times of Augustus in the 
splendor of her civilization ? During the first 
500 years divorce was unknown, justice and 
morality were identified in the courts, con- 
science was the ground of law, the gods were 
venerated, and the relation of parents and 
children was one of natural piety. But when 
we come to the days of Caesar, Cicero says 
there was “ nothing left but the dregs of 
Romulus.” Hence the ease with which that 
general crossed the Rubicon and became the 
emperor of the world. Can there be any 
doubt as to what answer should be given here ? 
Was Rome better or worse in the days of 


132 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


Brutus than in the days of Regulus? Read 
Horace and then doubt who can ! 

But it is said “ Christianity has come to make 
the world better.” N-ot quite. The world is 
the better for the coming of Christ, but that 
was not the purpose of His coming. The irri- 
gating ditch is made to convey water to the 
grain growing out on the broad acres, and not 
for enriching the soil through which it passes. 
There will be seepage, growth and enrichment 
all along its course, but that was not the pur- 
pose of its construction. The advent of the 
Son of God has been a blessing in percolating 
to and through unregenerated humanity. But 
He came for a higher purpose than such a 
mere pittance of uplifting. The world had 
apostatized. He came to bring it back from 
rebellion to loyalty, and from death to life — to 
a place where a repetition of this awful apos- 
tacy is an impossibility. He is doing this now. 
He took many out of one nation in the past, 
that He might take many out of all nations in 
the present. He saves one by one now, and 
makes the saved one a savior of others. He will 
save a whole nation in the period to come and 
then use that nation to reach the whole world. 

It is never said that Jesus came to make the 


BETTER OR WORSE 


133 


world better. It would have been a pity if it 
had been so. Even now, would not many be 
driven to the salvation and sunshine of Christ 
if the world had not so many delectable things 
for its gratification ? It was Cain who tried to 
make the world better and to obliterate the 
marks of its curse, by building cities, making in- 
ventions and constructing instruments of music. 
Seth and his descendants died, looking for a 
portion in the new earth to come. The citi- 
zens of Ur, the Hittites of Canaan and the 
master builders of Egypt sought to make the 
world better, but Abraham walked through it 
as a pilgrim looking for “ a city of which God 
was Architect and Builder.” Making the 
world better is too insignificant, too material, 
and too narrow a conception of the mission of 
Christ. The purpose of the mission of Christ 
covers the whole nature of man, it answers to 
the whole character of God, and comprehends 
the complete re-beginning of the world in which 
we live and the heading up of the universe of 
mind and matter into a state of blessedness as 
perfect and lasting as the character of God. 
Not better , but best , is the purpose set before 
the heart of Christ in His relation with man- 
kind and the universe. 


134 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


Of course benedictions have followed in the 
wake of Christianity. “ The river of God is 
very full of water,” and there has been a gen- 
erous percolation through the nations even 
where there has not been a regeneration of 
men. Paganism and its superstition have dis- 
appeared; new faiths, a new manner of life 
and new hopes have sprung up; the Colos- 
seum, the Pantheon, the slavery and the bar- 
barism of Rome have passed away and the 
foundations of civil society have been re-laid. 
The Ten Commandments, and the Sermon 
on the Mount have been put into modern laws 
superseding the code of Theodosius. All this 
is true, but the day of fatal mistake came 
to the Church. The Church of the despised 
Nazarene was deceived and led to put on the 
purple of the Caesars. After three hundred 
years of holy separation, faithful testimony 
and noble martyrdom, it came to the throne. 
While the Church proved true under the frown 
of persecution, it failed and fell before the smile 
of favor and the promise of power. It apos- 
tatized from Christ and ascended the throne 
of the world. It consented to reign where 
Christ was excluded. It ceased to be the be- 
trothed Virgin of the Lord, and became the 


BETTER OR WORSE 


135 


Harlot of the State. In keeping with this 
conduct, the prison, the fire and the wild 
beasts of persecution, once directed against 
the Church by Pagan Rome, were now turned 
against every dissenting Saint by Papal Rome. 
Now, it is pertinent to ask whether this herd 
of ruling cut-throats, bearing the name of the 
Nazarene, were any better than the Caesars of 
the days of Apostles ? Was the Church better 
in the brilliant days of Hildebrand than in the 
humble days of Paul ? There was greater 
wealth, there were more magnificent buildings 
and a larger number of nominal Christians 
under Hildebrand, but there was also a cor- 
ruption of doctrine and a rottenness of life 
that beggar description. 

After this came the darkness of the “ Middle 
Ages” during which, as Bolingbrokesays, “ the 
annals of Christendom were the annals of 
hell.” Then came the breach from Rome in 
the days of the Reformation. In quick suc- 
cession came Protestantism as a political 
power, the spread of infidelity, the French 
Revolution, followed by the era of modern 
revolution, bloodshed, greed, enormous wealth, 
corruption in every quarter, education preva- 
lent, and, both within and without the Church, 


136 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


socialism, communism, criticism and denial of 
the supernatural. 

“ But we have missions to the heathen.” 
Yes, and alcohol and opium by the million 
added, to increase the gold that goes to the 
maw of the modern monster of mammon ? 
Missions at home and missions abroad, with 
degrading saloons, debauching theaters, bar- 
baric brothels and shameless and nameless 
sins, to aid the missions of the Devil. Com- 
parison in one item alone is sufficient. Last 
year, less than fifteen millions of dollars were 
given by the whole world of Christians to the 
cause of Missions, while one billion of dollarr- 
were spent on alcohol alone: one dollar to 
save the heathen and six hundred and sixty-six 
to destroy the world. And the condition of 
the large cities of Christendom is appalling, — 
London, Paris, New York, Chicago, Berlin 
and Rome reeking and steaming to heaven 
with their moral miasma and all beyond the 
control of Church or State ! No wonder that 
ministers who do not look out over the coming 
Ages, drop into despair and turn politicians as 
a last resort, with the vain hope of regener- 
ating society by law. After candidly consider- 
ing these things, then ask if the world is better 


BETTER OR WORSE 


137 


or worse — if the Church is better or worse 
than at the beginning of the Christian era ? 

There can be but one answer to the ques- 
tion. That answer corresponds to the whole 
course of this Age given in the 24th of Mat- 
thew by our Lord Himself. Wars, famines 
and pestilence are common to the whole Age, 
but abounding iniquity, waning love, and 
“ great tribulation such as hath not been since 
the beginning of the world ” close the clouded 
scene. The same is taught by Paul declaring 
to the Thessalonians, that the Lord would not 
come, closing this Age and inaugurating an- 
other, “ until the falling away * * * and 

the Man of Sin, he that opposeth and exalteth 
himself against all that is called God or is an 
object of worship.” Interpret the Revelation 
as you may, the same is unfolded under the 
seals, trumpets and vials. Indeed, from all 
that is revealed, and from all which the past 
projects into the future, the sum of our con- 
clusion is, that this Age, in spite of gospel and 
government, in spite of culture and civiliza- 
tion, grows so much worse, that, like all pre- 
ceding Ages, it will come to its end because of 
the predominance of the evil from within its 
own bosom. \ 


138 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


As well might men, in their senses, deny 
that the sun shines, as for those who believe 
in the Bible and who profess subjection to its 
teachings, deny this sad fact concerning the 
end of our Age. And toward this end we are 
moving with startling rapidity. The learned 
Mr. Kliefoth is here quoted with pleasure: 
“ The cry of ‘pessimism’ amounts to nothing, 
except to reveal the prejudice or ignorance of 
those who make it. According to the word of 
God, there is no ‘ golden age ’ as a product of 
historical Church-development, or world cul- 
ture, before the Lord comes. The view is 
fundamentally false and opposed to the Word 
of God. It rests upon a false ground, viz: the 
identification of the inner life of the Church 
with outward extension , and its consequences 
have been fatal to the true life and mission of 
the Church. It is deceiving. According to 
the Word of God the outcome of the Church in 
this Age is a great apostacy, through which 
Christianity itself is forced back into great tribu- 
lation.” These are strong, brave words from 
a profound student of prophetic truth. He 
gives a true picture of the inevitable future, 
soon to be faced in the vaunted progress of 
the course of Christendom. 


BETTER OR WORSE 


139 


But there is a deception lurking in this cun- 
ning question. The “ World,” the “ Church” 
and “ the Age” differ from each other. Under 
the term “ World” it is impossible to consider 
the condition of the Church or the trend of the 
Age. It must be admitted that a world with 
improvements in industries, in methods of 
travel and means of education, is a better 
world to live in than a world without them. 
But what is meant by better ? Better to enjoy 
life ? Yes. Better in morals ? Where is the 
proof? In London exposures, or Chicago 
shame ? But why not ask, is the Age getting 
better ? Is the Church getting better ? Do 
both increase in knowledge of the Word, and 
obedience to the Will of God ? If both are 
developing in that direction, and if by persist- 
ence in their evolution they will surely advance 
to the “golden age,” then let us settle the 
matter on that basis and throw to the winds 
the teachings of the prophets, of Christ, and 
of the Apostles. For, all of those foretell an- 
other and a different state of things. Having 
done this, let us throw the reins upon the neck 
of our imagination and cheer loudly for mod- 
ern speculation and progress. That is pre- 
cisely what the “ higher critics” are doing to- 


140 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


day. They deny that the prophets of old 
foretold events that have been fulfilled. They 
were limited by the horizon of their own times. 
They spoke to the men of their day but had 
no supernatural insight into the future. On 
this account they deny the date of Daniel, and 
with impious nonchalance say, “ Jesus did 
not have the data for a correct opinion — He 
did not know.” So they repudiate the claim 
that the Scriptures have any forecastings of 
the future. Such an admission would be fatal 
to their falsehoods, and destructive to their 
standing upon the ground of the lowest materi- 
alism. If the prophets truly and really did 
foretell events, known to God alone, then their 
theories and hopes go to the winds. 

But is the world no better ? It would be 
strange indeed if the world were not better in 
some aspects because of the presence of Chris- 
tian truth. And it would be equally strange if 
the Church, by her contact with the world had 
not been made the worse. But on the whole, 
the Age in which we live, because of the union 
of Church and State, because of departure 
from the simplicity of Christ and the Apostles, 
because of the deceptions of Satan still un- 
bound, and above all, because of the abuse of 


BETTER OR WORSE 


141 


gracious privilege and the rejection precious 
truth is deteriorating and ripening for coming 
judgment. It will begin at the House of God, 
and never end until the field is purged with 
fan and flame. 

We take the following quotations from men 
who make no pretensions to veneration for the 
Word of God, but who seem not to share the 
modern infatuation of maintaining that the 
present tendency of things is upward and not 
downward. The prophetic Scriptures settle 
everything to the obedient servant of God. 
But all men are not obedient. The claims of 
vain men, and of their science and scholarship, 
share the affections and allegiance of many of 
the family of God. It is still “ an adulterous 
generation” — spiritually unclean, because 
of disloyalty to the Lord in matters of faith 
and walk. Hence we give place to the 
following quotations, in the hope that some 
may be moved to thought, and awakened to 
feeling, who disregard the prophetic utter- 
ances of the Scriptures. Kidd says: “ Man, 
left to himself has not the slightest tendency 
to make any onward progress. If man was 
allowed to follow his own inclinations the 
average of one generation would always tend 


142 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


to sink below the average of the preceding.” 
Max Nordeau in his recent remarkable book 
on Degeneration says: “ At no time known to 
me were there, in addition to mere brutality 
and lewdness, so many symptoms of organic 
ruin observable as now — degeneration is more 
applicable to our times than to previous 
epochs.” He also speaks strongly of the 
“ increased rate of insanity, imbecility, idiocy 
and impulsive crimes ” and of the “ unraveling 
of all moral bonds, unsparing egotism, sensual- 
ism and brutality.” It is worthy of note that 
several months before the disgusting disclos- 
ures of a depravity unsurpassed in the days of 
Sodom, this author as a mere man of the 
world declared that the literature, art and 
culture (sic) of Europe, indicated the very de- 
pravity that so soon afterward shocked the 
sensibilities of all right thinking people. Was 
Carlyle right or wrong when he said “ optimism 
is a fool’s way of looking at things ? ” 


XV. 


TO WHAT END ? 


Our race is moving on. We know its 
origin, what is its end ? Whither are we drift- 
ing ? No one willingly takes passage in a ves- 
sel without knowing to what port she sails. 
To what port is our race sailing ? Can we 
know ? Science and history, as we have seen, 
cannot help us. The beginning and ending 
of things are hidden from both of these alike. 
But the Bible is bold in its revelation of the 
origin and end of man, and of the nations. 
Paul on Mars Hill declared that “ God had 
made of one blood all the nations * * * 

that he had determined their appointed sea- 
sons, and the bounds of their habitation, and 
had appointed a day in which he would judge 
the inhabited earth.” Here is origin and end. 
God created the race, it is a unit, the nations 
are the outgrowth of his purpose, and their 
chronology, geography and teleology — their 



143 


144 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


time, place and end — are determined by his 
decree. 

In the future, events gather around three 
distinct circles. Both Old and New Testa- 
ments follow two of these circles now existing 
on the earth. The one is that “remnant,” 
called the “ Jews.” The other is that line of 
dominion over the earth, commencing in Baby- 
lon and culminating in Rome, and destined to 
have its final form where the race began, in 
universal empire. “ Westward the star of em- 
pire ” has taken its way. When the circle is 
completed, then years will be lived in days, 
and side by side will grow the ripest good and 
the most malignant evil, culminating in the 
climax of grace and judgment. 

When we confine our attention to the New 
Testament, a third circle is added, in the 
Church of God, having an outward form as 
“the kingdom of heaven” or Christendom. 
Out of this is taken, at the end, all things that 
offend, and the judgment extends through the 
other circles of Jew and Gentile, until the work 
is complete. 

It is most important to see these things that we 
may “ give no offence to the Jew, to the Gen- 
tile nor to the Church of God.” From Baby- 


TO WHAT END? 


145 


Ion to the second Advent, there stretches down 
through history but one governmental Age. 
God has made no change in His dealings with 
the nations, since the days of Nebuchadnezzar. 
This governmental period is called “ the times 
of the Gentiles ” by our Lord. It begins with 
the Old Testament Babylon, and will only end 
with the Babylon of the New. The old Baby- 
lon gradually faded from sight, but the Baby- 
lon of the immediate future will sink like a 
stone under the last vial of the outpoured 
judgments of God. 

The Gentile nations, as nations, filling up 
this period, when estimated by the searching 
eye of God, constantly deteriorate. God looks 
at the heart, man at the face; God at the char- 
acter, man at the appearance. Here is the 
description of the line of descent as given by 
God: “ Lion, bear, leopard and a fourth 

beast terrible and dreadful.” That is one pic- 
ture. Here is another: “ Gold, silver, brass, 
iron and a mixture of iron and clay.” Here 
we see the progress we are making according 
to the mind of God — a progress backward — 
a deteriorating advance. From the kingly 
lion we descend to the nameless beast, and 
from the precious gold to the dishonorable 


146 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


clay. This, of course, does not refer to the 
Church, or the Age, but to the nations repre- 
sented by these symbols. A nation may ad- 
vance in civilization and decline in morals. 
Greece and Rome reached their pinnacle of 
civilization and their abyss of immorality at 
one and the same moment. Their path to 
glory proved to be their path to shame. They 
perished in their civilization, not only in spite 
of it, but really because of it. Recent revela- 
tions in London and other great centers point 
to the speedy approach of a similar anti-cli- 
max in our Saxon civilization. 

Oh, how hard it is to learn that God takes no 
delight in large cities, in costly buildings of great 
architectural beauty, immense armies, enor- 
mous fortunes, brilliant literature, the perfec- 
tion of art and the acme of polished manners. 
What He desires, first of all, is men who will 
own and honor His Son in this apostate world, 
where He was nailed to a stake; people humble 
in spirit, trustful in heart, unwavering in integ- 
rity and spotless in virtue. The nation with- 
out these is on its way to judgment, no matter 
what form the government, how large the 
domain, how vast the wealth, how gigantic the 
commerce, how multiplied the industries, or 


TO WHAT END? 


147 


how high the attainments in learning, in art, 
in oratory, in sanitary and social science and 
in literature. Let the nations of the earth 
tremble! Civilization is not Christianity, cul- 
ture is not Christ, greatness is not grace, and 
self-confidence is not evidence of being estab- 
lished in righteousness and truth. God can 
smite the nations of to-day just as he did the 
proud, luxurious and cultured empires of Baby- 
lon, Nineveh and Egypt. The iron and clay 
of a constitutional monarchy as well as the clay 
and iron of a modern republic, may be ground 
to powder with as much of ease and certainty 
as the gold of an imperial autocracy. It is not 
far hence, in the dim and ominous future, 
when “ the little stone ” of prophecy will be- 
come the grinding mill of history. When 
everything of vain man’s creation becomes as 
the chaff in the summer threshing floor, then 
the universal empire of God will fill the earth 
with its own glory “ unto the Age of Ages.” 

In addition to the direct teachings of proph- 
ecy, the records of past history in the Bible 
point to a repetition of events in future 
history having the same characteristics and 
differing only in extent and intensity. The 
good and the bad run parallel and culminate 


148 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


in a final crisis of rewards and punishments. 
The good and the bad are separated each for- 
ever in his own place. 

Here we see the two currents — progress and 
regress, repetition and expansion, like the ad- 
vancing and retreating waves of the sea. This 
is the organic law of all prophecy, history and 
thought. It is both cyclical and horizontal. 
The law of the Ages is “ that which hath been, 
is now; and that which is to be hath already 
been.” Yet it is not an aimless, pagan roll of 
cycles. There will be a true progress , in 
which the present is the fullness of the past, 
and, at the same time, a firm basis for the fu- 
ture. There is an end in view. It is the 
grandest which the wisdom of God can con- 
ceive, and which the power of God can accom- 
plish* When it is reached, it will be seen, 
that the introduction of evil into the world 
was part of a great plan for attaining the high- 
est ends, possible by no other path. It will 
also be seen that, after all the struggle and 
conflict are past forever, the good has come at 
last to eternal victory. 

The road to this end is indicated in the 
Scriptures. Here we see two distinct lines al- 
ternating in judgment and mercy, in cursing 


TO WHAT END? 


149 


and blessing. Adam and Seth, the flood and 
Noah, Babel and Abraham, Sodom and Lot, 
Egypt and Israel, Jerusalem and the Church, 
mark the successive steps of the judging hand 
of God accompanied by gracious intervention 
and deliverance. Prophecy points with uni- 
form testimony to a repetition of these in the 
future, in a manner that is universal, final and 
terrific: All other judgments are but rehear- 
sals of the final dramatic tragedy. 

What solemn and awful events are predicted 
by our Lord, and by the Scriptures of both 
the Old and New Testaments! The tares and 
the wheat; the sheep and the goats; the Christ 
and the Antichrist; the Church resting and 
the unbelieving writhing; the New Jerusalem 
coming down from heaven and the Old Baby- 
lon going down to hell; Christ exalted to be a 
Priest upon His throne; and the Dragon which 
is the Devil, bound, cast into the abyss, shut 
up and keyed in his prison. This is the broad 
outline of the final outcome now looming up 
before us. 

Now there are three spheres of existence. 
There is one where there is good and only 
good without any mixture of evil. There is 
one where there is evil and only evil without 


150 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


any mixture of good. Then there is the great 
sphere of human existence where good and 
evil, right and wrong, struggle for the mastery. 
This enmity between the “ seed of the woman” 
and the seed of the Serpent, between the Son 
of God and the great adversary the Devil, — 
this contest between light and darkness, be- 
tween love and hatred, between life and death, 
will come to an end. Not merely by the ex- 
ercise of divine power, but by their own in- 
herent tendencies, the good will go to its good 
and the evil to its evil. Each will go to its 
own place, and when that place is reached in 
the final crisis, there is no promise of change 
or end, to the awful doom of the one and the 
sublime glory of the other. The thought is 
overwhelming in its solemnity, but the whole 
testimony of history and prophecy point, with 
unwavering certainty, to a doom, on the one 
hand, as dark and dreadful, as that of the 
other is filled with light and glory. 


XVI. 


THE USES OF THIS DOCTRINE. 

Little more than the threshold of this won- 
derful theme has been entered. What has 
been said may afford a ground of vantage 
that will encourage others to larger excursions 
and more distinct and far-reaching conclu- 
sions. 

It only remains that an attempt be made to 
answer the question cui bono ? During the 
past thirteen centuries, little or nothing has 
been said of the Ages of the Scripture, and 
yet, much progress has been made. May we 
not have a continuation of growth, with- 
out attempting to understand “ dispensation 
truth ” ? 

Since the doctrine of the Ages fell out of 
sight after the fifth century, progress indeed 
has been made. Progress in what ? First of 
all in the development, consolidation and 
spread of Romanism. There can be no doubt 
on this point. Progress, too, in systems of 
151 


152 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


government, in revolutions, reformations, 
modes of education, conquest of countries, 
bloody and heartless wars, discoveries, inven- 
tions and industries. Progress also in Prot- 
estantism, missions, toleration, religious 
liberty, latitudinarianism, apostacy and infi- 
delity. Progress in the introduction of pagan 
philosophy into Christian theology, in the facil- 
ity with which betrayers of Christian truth are 
installed into seats of Christian learning, and 
progress in art, literature, science, and the 
whole round of things that we call civilization. 
We have had progress also in grammars, lexi- 
cons, and auxiliaries to study, until our libra- 
ries are gorged with the accumulation of books. 

But have we not had regress also ? Leaving 
out of consideration the world, may we not 
trace, in the history of the Church, a lapse 
from the “ first love ” of Ephesus, to “ the 
lukewarm ” nausea of Laodicea, driving the 
Lord outside of the Church, where He remains 
knocking at her door for admittance ? True, 
there never was such a manifestation of zeal 
and self-denial since the Apostles as there is 
now; but there never was such indifference 
and self-indulgence. Extreme heat and 
extreme cold, producing a medium, lukewarm 


THE USES OF THIS DOCTRINE 153 


temperature. There never was such a diffu- 
sion of education and general reading, but 
there never was a period of greater neglect 
and ignorance of the Word of God and the doc- 
trines of grace. How few in our churches 
know anything at all of the coming, appearing 
and revelation — the parousia, epiphany, and 
apocalypse — of our Lord. The early Church 
understood these things and cherished the 
hopes which they inspired, but can as much be 
said of to-day ? 

Many of those, on whose lips modern pro- 
gress constantly hangs, know nothing of the 
meaning of the Church, Kingdom, Body, Age 
and similar words of frequent recurrence in 
the New Testament. There are many pulpit 
orators and professors in Christian colleges, 
who are at home in history, science and phi- 
losophy, but who are all at sea when the 
simplest teachings of the Word of God are 
introduced. Modern scholarship, and science 
and literature, have advanced, but too often at 
the expense of Christian truth. 

To ask what profit, means what is the use 
of considering anything in the Bible beyond 
what concerns one’s own selfish salvation ? 
Have the great prophecies of the Old Testa- 


154 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


ment and the clearer utterances of the New 
been given for our own amusement ? Are they 
not to be studied ? Is not all Scripture, in- 
cluding prophecy, profitable for the man of 
God? 

Is it not strange that men are willing to 
surround themselves with vague speculations 
about the Church of the future, and the re- 
ligion of the twentieth century — speculations 
which, like the spider’s web are spun out of 
their own bowels, and yet neglect and reject the 
“ sure word of prophecy ” which shines in the 
present darkness, and reveals the course and 
crisis of the future ? What towering assur- 
ance, what baseless prophecies come from the 
Babel of religious teachers at the present day ! 
And why ? In some cases because of the nar- 
rowness of men’s horizon — not a step beyond 
personal salvation. In more cases intellectual 
pride — unwillingness to bow to the Word of 
God. They had rather trust their own reason, 
and draw conclusions respecting the future from 
the past. It is intellectual pride instead of 
open minded humility. What period of the past 
has thrown any light upon the future ? Who 
can tell what a day may bring forth in his own 
life, much less in the future of a nation or of 


THE USES OF THIS DOCTRINE 155 


the world ? What is the use of speculating 
about the future, when the weaving of a 
spider’s web, or the stub of a man’s toe, or the 
bite of a dog may be used by God, in the 
future as in the past, to upset the whole? 
Why not accept the forecastings of the One 
who alone can see the end, aye, and has 
planned the end, from the beginning ? 

Progress, and regress, too, we must admit. 
In running after modern fads, we have run 
away from ancient truths and attainments. 
The very errors that were crushed out by the 
Apostles are now boldly preached. Is this a 
kind of progress over which we ought to 
boast ? The Old Testament is loaded with 
prophetic truth that modern scholarship never 
touches. The New Testament is full of in- 
struction about the “ Ages,” “ the end of the 
Ages,” and the order of events, into which the 
Church never looks. Indeed, these things 
have been so buried in the rubbish of human 
devices and wild schemes of interpretation, 
that the voice of God is never heard by the 
ear of man. The Word of God was made void 
by the traditions of the Jews, at the time of 
Christ, and its teachings were destroyed by 
Rome until the Reformation. But are we now 


156 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


freed from the traditions and superstitions of 
the past so that the Word of God is supreme 
in our thinking, in our feeling and in our liv- 
ing ? Are we ? Who dares to make such a 
claim ? Man’s boasted scholarship to-day is 
more destructive to the Bible than the Jewish 
traditions of nineteen centuries ago. 

It seems plain that we ought, at least, to at- 
tempt to make some progress in exploring 
these unknown portions of the Scriptures. 
Should not the circle of our theological knowl- 
edge extend beyond that of our fathers ? Sup- 
pose Roman dogma and Protestant literature 
are silent on the doctrine of the Ages, what of 
it ? Is Protestantism our source of authority ? 
Are we indebted to Rome, or Wittenberg, or 
Geneva, or Oxford for our faith ? Who is our 
Master ? At whose feet do we sit ? It smacks 
too much of rawness and recency to go back 
to Oxford or to Rome. We want something 
made more venerable by the maturity of age. 
We must go back to the dusty old manuscripts 
which reveal the teaching of the Apostles and 
the authority of Christ. Further still we must 
go, that we may include the setting of these 
precious truths. We must go back to those 
writings to which our Lord ever appealed as 


THE USES OF THIS DOCTRINE 15 ? 


inerrant, authoritative, lasting, and so knit to- 
gether that they can never be broken. Back 
also to the history of the people from whom 
the Saviour sprung. Only when, with believing 
heart and open mind, with uncolored thought 
and unbent will, we turn to the fountain head 
— to that “ faith once for all delivered to the 
saints ” — and adjust our thinking to God's 
revelation, our faith to His self-interpreting 
word, and our work and hope to the plan of His 
“ Ages” and the “ End” toward which they 
march with unerring feet, can we reach the high 
plane of thinking, feeling and living, which is 
offered to our Christian ambition. 

If, however, there is any human interpreta- 
tion entitled to respect and to which we 
should defer in our interpretation of the Bible, 
it is that which was held by the martyr-schol- 
ars of the early period that might almost be said 
to have been taught by the Apostles them- 
selves. It is well known that for the first 
three hundred years the Church held the mar- 
tyr faith in harmony with dispensational truth, 
when it was unmoved by persecution, and 
when its members were strangers to any de- 
sire to escape tribulation. If we must appeal 
to human authority, let us go back to these 


158 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


first days of comparative purity of faith and 
life, and let us never stop at the prejudices of 
Westminster, the compromises of Canterbury, 
or the corruptions of Rome. 


XVII. 


THE CONCLUSION. 

It is not a matter of surprise that men have 
been slow to understand the onward move- 
ments of the hand of God behind the scenes, 
in the development of the Ages. Phenomena 
are more easily studied and understood than 
the unseen laws that govern them. Israel saw 
the “ acts ” of the Lord, but Moses understood 
His “way” — the reason of things. Israel’s 
view was from without, but Moses was admitted 
to the counsels of Jehovah, who “ made known 
His way ” — His purpose and the principles on 
which He acted. 

As we have seen, these Ages are amongst 
the things that are revealed. God has taken 
us into His confidence and made known His pur- 
pose respecting the Church, respecting Israel, 
and respecting the Nations during this Age. 
He has unfolded the greater glory of the Age 
to follow the one in which we live, and He 
has even given unmistakable revelations re- 


159 


160 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


specting the everlasting Age of glory succeeding 
that. 

Our study of these Ages in their develop- 
ment reveals a four-fold law: i. The Ages 
overlap. There is no sharp point at which the 
one ends and the other begins. You cannot 
mark the day or the hour when power passed 
from Jerusalem to Babylon, nor the hour when 
the Jew ceased to be recognized and the 
Church began. Jerusalem continued more 
than thirty years after Pentecost, and her de- 
struction under Titus is plainly predicted by 
our Lord in his discourse recorded in the twen- 
ty-first chapter of Luke. Jerusalem will re- 
commence an existence at the end of this Age, 
and before the Church has gathered in the full 
number of the elect it will be in exist- 
ence long enough to re-establish laws, cus- 
toms, and worship according to the commands 
of Moses. It is evident that just as the in- 
struction given in Luke xxi, respecting the sur- 
rounding of that city by armies was of service 
then , and none of the Christians perished, so 
shall the instruction given in Matthew xxiv, 
respecting “the abomination of desolation” 
guide the Christians in the future destruction, to 
flee for safety. Luke refers to the days of Titus 


THE CONCLUSION 161 

in the past, Matthew to the days of greater 
trouble in the future. It was the day of 
vengeance ” then, but in that hour to come 
“ it shall be great tribulation such as hath not 
been from the beginning of the world, nor ever 
shall be.” 

2. God never destroys His previous work. 
He judges and sweeps from the scene what- 
ever man has accomplished, but He always 
preserves the work of His own hands. The 
promise of salvation imbedded in the curse 
pronounced in Eden, is perpetuated in the new 
earth under Noah, and its fulfillment will 
crown the new heavens and the New Earth 
under Christ. The kernel of government 
given to Noah has been preserved through all 
dispensations, notwithstanding man’s abuse of 
the trust. Even the law which only came in 
by the way “ until the seed should come,” re- 
mains holy and just and good — a revelation to 
the New Man although a source of death to 
the Old. The Gospel, with the Holy Spirit 
sent down from heaven which began with our 
Lord, will be continued in the Age to come. 
In a word, God never finds that He has 
built upon the wrong foundation or of 
the wrong material. He never tears down 


1G2 


THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 


His barns to build larger — He builds them 
large enough at first. Step by step, in the 
onward advance of the Ages, whatever has 
come from God, has the stamp of His un- 
changing character. His foundation standeth 
sure. 

3. In each Age there is first of all a grad- 
ual deterioration from the former condition 
of things. This declension continues and 
accelerates as the end of the Age approaches. 
Whatever irregular attempts at recovery may 
appear, they will be found to be the results of 
some external force or forces, and are never an 
evolution from within. 

4. In each Age, the power of evil waxes 
stronger and stronger. In the end it makes a 
final and supreme effort to maintain itself 
against the incoming of a better state of 
things. The course and climax of the Mosaic 
Age is the type and mould of every Age. 
Man resisted, stoned and shamefully entreated 
the prophets. When God sent His Son 
they killed Him in the most shameful way 
known to history and sought to seize His in- 
heritance. They descended from a rejection 
of the message to a hatred of the messenger, 
and then from that to the murder of the King 
from whom the message came. 


THE CONCLUSION 


163 


5. There is also revealed the victory of 
the new or better Age, coming out of, and 
ruling over, the wreck and ruin of the Age 
preceding. This victory, in every case, is 
preceded by judgment and is led and accom- 
plished by God in the person of His Son. 

Thus, from the “ unbeginning beginning ” 
spoken of by John, we have reason to believe 
that the countless Ages have been unfolding 
their glories. But we know by revelation, 
that from the time of that other “ beginning,” 
when the heavens and the earth were created, 
the Ages have had their birth, their course 
and their death, according to the arrange- 
ment of God. So will our own Age come to 
its end, with a death struggle and agony that 
has never been equaled. In its last days it 
will be marked by the most subtle deceptions 
of Satan and by the most daring blasphemy of 
man ever seen in human history. It will be 
the combination of earth and hell to defeat 
the gracious purpose of God to bring in the 
better things of the Age to come. The Devil 
will have “ great wrath, knowing that he hath 
but a short time.” 

But all of the human and Satanic combina- 
tions will be in vain. “ He that sitteth in the 


164 THE DOCTRINE OF THE AGES 

heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall have them 
in derision.” The Son shall be set u upon the 
holy hill of Zion,” and “ shall break them with 
a rod of iron.” The “ appearing of the great 
God and our Saviour” will bean epoch, mark- 
ing the end of Israel’s blindness, of the Churches’ 
suffering, of Satan’s power, and also marking 
the beginning of the Millennial reign. The Old 
will die and will be put in its bloody coffin and 
then sunk into oblivion, while the New will be 
born and laid in its peaceful cradle. But the 
One who buries the Old and brings forth the 
New will sit on the throne, and shall have 
“ dominion under the whole heaven,” and 
“ from the River to the ends of the earth.” 
“ All kings shall fall down before Him and all 
nations shall serve Him. His name shall con- 
tinue as long as the sun.” 

It is thus that God hath moulded the Ages of 
the past. Thus is He moulding the present, 
and thus will he mould the future. But 
whether in the past, the present, or the future 
Ages, it is the same everlasting God of light 
and love, the same gospel of grace, promising 
glory, the same Holy Spirit, the same Mediator 
and the same human race, either needing mercy 
or “ having obtained mercy.” The gospel has 


THE CONCLUSION 


165 


not been a failure, it does not fail now, and it 
will not be a failure in the Age to come. It 
has accomplished, and it will accomplish the 
ends for which it is preached. In this Age it 
takes out a people from the nations. In the 
next, it will begin by “ repairing the tent of 
David,” in order that 11 all nations may seek 
after the Lord.” And when the final Age is 
reached, redeemed man, the redeemed heavens 
and the redeemed earth, will attain a perfec- 
tion leaving no wish or will of God himself 
ungratified; and when that long expected day 
has come, we will have no song of praise for 
man, for sociological reforms, for Church pre- 
tension or for good laws, but unto the Father 
and unto the Son and unto the Holy Spirit, 
unto the Ages of Ages, shall be glory and do- 
minion and power. Amen. 



* 


. 

. 















* 








' 

■ 

■ 

* 











- 









. ■:• . . 1 















• • 














' 







































• . « • 

















4 















fib 14 1899 


CHARGE FOR OVER-DETENTION TWO CENTS A DAY 

ITERATIONS OF THE RECORDS BELOW ARE STRICTLY PROHIBITE 

DUE 

DUE 

DUE 

PUE 

DUE 








' i 




















1 

























— 



| 





1 

1 












All losses or injuries beyond reasonable wear, 
however caused, must be promptly adjusted by 
the person to whom the ^ook is charged. 

Fine for over detention, two cents a day (Sun- 
days excluded). 

Books will be issued and received from 9 a. m. 
to 9 p. m. (Sundays, July 4, December 25, ex- 
empted.) 

KEEP YOUR CARD IN THIS POCKET 

- — _ 




W 





